English: Bullying on IRFE in March 5, 2007, the first class day. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You may think that you don’t need to worry very much about bullying. If you are a parent you could have the idea in your head that you have a confident child that would never hurt another person. You may not need to worry about bullying, right? If you are a student, you might just think that you are “teasing” someone, not bullying them. Perhaps if you are bullied, you think that you deserve it. If any of this sounds familiar, there are a few things that you need to know.

Bullying can happen to anyone, anywhere!

Your child might come home and act like a perfect angel, when at school they are a bully to another child. Maybe your student thinks they are better than another person and they mock the other person because they had to participate in a fee SAT test prep class. Your child may have taunted and teased them because they thought a free SAT course meant that the other child was too poor to afford something else. Perhaps they push other students around because your child thinks that they are superior to the other children in some way. Your child could also be the bullied student! They might come home confident and determined, but it could be a front for the way that they truly feel about the bullying they receive at school. Perhaps they just don’t want you to worry and so they fake it when they come home every day. Your child is not exempt from bullying and it can be given and taken in many forms.

Bullying is never okay!

If you get bullied, chances are that you have a lower self esteem because of it. If you feel like the world is against you, you may start to believe that you are worthless. That couldn’t be further from the truth! Everyone is important and everyone deserves the chance to show the world who they are and what they have to offer. It is never okay for someone else to bully you and make you feel inferior to them and others. If you are at the other end and you tease or physically bully another child, that is simply not okay. You do not have the right to treat another person as if they have no worth. It’s just not something that is okay in today’s society. You are equal to those people that you bully and the sooner you realize that and stop your bullying, the sooner you will mature and have more confidence in yourself!

It is okay to ask for help.

It is scary when you or someone you know gets bullied. You may feel like if you tell on the bully that it will happen again or will get worse. You may feel embarrassed or ashamed of what has happened to you. It is not your fault and there is no shame in letting the right people know what is going on. If it is happening at school, you need to talk to a teacher or administrator that you trust so that they can help you handle the situation. You should always talk to your parents so that they understand what you are going through in your life and can give you advice when you need it. If you are the bully you may need to ask for some counseling. If you just can’t stop, it’s okay to talk to someone about it and learn ways that you can control yourself.