A charitable & foundational partnerships to ensure that portions of proceeds and/or profits are channeled to organizations dedicated to building better lives for underprivileged kids.
It’s October, National Anti-Bullying Awareness Month. According phys.org, a study at the University of Virginia has found a decrease in bullying, stating; “While bullying is a significant public health concern and has received considerable attention from the media and policymakers, these data suggest that things are starting to improve…” This is good news people. REALLY, really good news.
However, we still have a lot of work to do to eradicate this public epidemic. Although studies show a decrease in bullying overall, many of us are noticing an increase in the catastrophic consequences of cyberbullying; including young children taking their lives due to cyberbullying. We need to better understand this, and this needs to stop! As parents, teachers, and friends, we need to do more to help.
HERE ARE JUST A FEW SUGGESTIONS THAT MAY HELP:
First, stop and ask, does your child even need a device? Why? For school or transportation? If not, do away with that.
If the child really need needs a device, collect it at night to charge in a local spot where you have access, and check the text messages.
Do away with or limit the child’s social media, and again, IF you allow it, check it regularly.
Begin a constant dialogue with your children, asking them to share with you any problems that they may be having online or in person.
Be supportive of your children and of their concerns. Find the right time each day for you to listen and really BE with your child to hear him/her.
Above all – be a positive role model for your children. Be cautious about the comments you make or text messages you may send in their presence.
It is our goal at Wear the Cape to help prevent and stop bullying, in all forms, in its tracks. Will you join us on our mission?
We have created several resources for you to discuss bullying with your children, from a kindness perspective, including our children’s book, It’s Good To Be Kind and our Hero Assembly for elementary school students. For further information on how to promote kindness through these resources, please email leighann@wearthecapekids.com or click here.
For many of us, our memories of childhood are littered with instances of kids being unkind. I, for one, recall swinging across the monkey bars in preschool and breaking my arm because a villain in pigtails refused to make room for me on the jungle gym platform. While the little girl was cruel in that particular situation, I wasn’t a victim of bullying, which can be far more damaging.
Today, “bullying” is often used as a catch-all term to describe unkind actions. True bullying, however, is more than an isolated incident of a child being mean. It’s aggressive behavior intended to hurt or harm someone – and here’s the differentiator – that is repeated over time and involves an imbalance of power. Teaching kids empathy is imperative, particularly for positive outcomes from social situations where power struggles naturally ensue.
Baby boomers, Generation X’ers and even “Senior” Millennials can attest to the fact that “bullying” wasn’t a word often used before the turn of the century. According to the scholarly article, “Four Decades of Research on Bullying,” public concern about school bullying increased dramatically in the late 1990s, largely due to the tragic deaths of our youth by suicide and murder, with the Columbine massacre in 1998 being an egregious example. I would also argue that the commercialization of the internet around this time facilitated an increase in bullying, with keyboards and screens giving kids shields to hide behind when launching their attacks.
This new world that we’re living in requires not only reactive, but proactive measures to fight bullying.
Educational materials on bullying often focus either on encouraging bystanders to stand up for other kids being targeted or on giving bullying victims hope. Both are key messages, but there’s an overlooked part of the equation that can make a big impact on outcomes.
Kids who are revered because they’re athletic, smart, attractive, talented, or just confident typically have the choice to use their social standing to be leaders or to abuse their positions of power and be jerks. The same goes for superheroes, who choose whether to use their superpowers for good or evil. Highlighting kids, community leaders, professional athletes and other everyday heroes who choose to do the right thing, the kind thing, despite being able to abuse their power through bullying, is an impactful way to impress the value of kindness upon young minds.
Parents and educators need to team up and show kids that earning respect from peers is better than creating fear among them. We need to give children confidence that exuding empathy and kindness will not only make those around them feel happier, but they’ll feel happier, too. In fact, treating others well will make them liked and admired, while winning friends. Driving home this important life lesson at an early age takes oxygen away from bullying by promoting the positive alternative.
In my book, It’s Good to Be Kind, children learn that they can’t lift themselves up by putting others down, and kindness, courage and respect are what will make them shine socially. It reminds kids to STOP and THINK whether their choices will HELP or HURT. The story of Leonard the Lion, who is King of the Jungle (the animal kingdom equivalent of a Big Man on Campus), assists kids with making connections to their own lives, practicing social skills and learning strategies needed to be a positive force in their communities. Young readers gather that they can reinforce their self-worth on a daily basis by being BETTER THAN THAT™, better than bad choices including bullying.
While kids being mean to one another is behavior that needs to be addressed, “bullying” is a more deeply rooted pattern. To effectively combat it, children’s worldviews must be shaped from an early age, before the vulnerable preteen and teen years when the often-tragic results from this abuse of social power are most commonly seen.
Prevention can stop bullying before it starts. Let’s work together to ensure that our little ones’ memories of childhood aren’t littered with instances of kids being unkind, but instead are brightened with kindness.
Lauren DuBois Rosemond is the author of It’s Good to Be Kingd, a book for young kids that tells the story of Leonard the Lion who learns the value of using his power and status to make a positive impact on those around him. Purchase your copy of It’s Good to Be Kind.
Youth sports are an important part of childhood. We were struck by the words of Felisa Billet, of grandparents.com who we think summed up youth sports beautifully, by stating;
“Kids learn the importance of teamwork, sportsmanship, perseverance, respect for authority and rules, and how to win with class and lose with dignity.”
However, we have to ask…. Are we as parents showing up well on the sidelines?
Our kids love playing youth sports and we love watching them play. The excitement on their faces when they score a goal, or hit a home run is contagious. When they need a high five or a pep talk, we are ready.
Sometimes, there are negative comments from some parents aimed at their children, to coaches, to umpires, and to other children.
Billet offers the 4Cs strategy to parents and children in an effort to help “…on the playing field and beyond…” We encourage you to read through and consider implementing this within your own families, as well as sharing with others:
4Cs
Confidence (the ability to believe in oneself at all times)
Control (the ability to resist distractions)
Concentration (the ability to maintain focus)
Commitment (the ability to continue working towards one’s goals despite challenges)
We wish you and your children much success on and off the playing field. More importantly, we hope and your children have fun and create life skills and wonderful memories and friendships.
It’s October, National Anti-Bullying Awareness Month. According phys.org, a study at the University of Virginia has found a decrease in bullying, stating; “While bullying is a significant public health concern and has received considerable attention from the media and policymakers, these data suggest that things are starting to improve…” This is good news people. REALLY, really good news.
