Bad advice adults give to kids who are being bullied:
It never ceases to amaze me how adults botch this. Retaliating against bullies isn’t ok and neither is ignoring them. How about we use science instead.
How to not take it personally
A bully needs someone who will respond to them either in fear or in submission. They don’t really care which. Heck, getting made at them means they got to you and THEY controlled YOUR behavior.
Don’t allow them to control your behavior.
Who do you want to be?
Most humans, including bullies, have a vision of themselves. If you are relatively healthy, you will think you are moral, for the most part, and that when someone is rude to you, they are at fault. But how do you know if you aren’t the problem?
Let’s Get To Work
I am heartbroken every time someone tells me their child is being bullied. I feel like I failed them by not getting them this information sooner. I get mad because we have 70 plus years of research that tell us exactly what we need to teach and yet – we still aren’t teaching it!!!!