How Do You “BullyProof” Your Child in New Jersey?

Anti- bullying has become all the rage in New Jersey. In fact I can’t think of anything that gets us more enraged than hearing of someone who’s been or is being bullied. We hear of the suicides of Tyler Clementi and Lennon Baldwin and ask ‘How can this happen?

My question is. “How can we stop this from happening again? Is it possible to “bully-proof “your child and if so, How do you do it? I believe it starts in the home. The better your child feels about him or her self, the less chance they will be bullied. Bullies take advantage of low self esteem , usually because they suffer from it, which is why they need to bully in the first place. The better you make your child feel about themselves, the better the chances are that they won’t be bullied.

One way to make your child feel good about themselves is to get them off the computer and onto the field of play. Sports is a tremendous way to build self esteem as well as a strong body and huge social network. If you don’t like sports, at least get them in some kind of a workout program. The better shape you’re in, the better you feel. It would be great if they were into self defense, but not everyone is and there are other ways to avoid being bullied.

Social networks are also huge and I’m not just talking about facebook. The more popular you are, the less likely you are to get picked on. One way to get people to have your back is to let them know that you have theirs.The most important thing you can do to “bullyproof” is to communicate. Talk to your child constantly to find out what’s going on in their lives. Make them feel comfortable talking to you about anything. Make them feel that they are an important part of you and let them know that they can come to you with anything and you will do everything to take care of the situation, no matter what that situation may be.