Bullying or bullying is a form of violence that terrifies parents and it is urgent to address without looking the other way. It usually occurs more frequently in boys and girls between 11 and 14 years old, although it is increasingly found in younger children and can be extended to university or working life.
The sports chain Sprinter, within its Sprinter School initiative launched with the return to school, gives us guidelines to prevent bullying from home. Through free workshops taught by Tania Garcia, director and founder of Edurespeta, gives us tools to educate our children in values that help avoid bullying situations.
Education in respect is key to creating in our children an environment in which they feel loved, confident and with healthy self-esteem. Both to prevent a child from becoming a bully or a bully, there are values that parents should transmit to them since they are young:
Giving example
As you well know, children fundamentally learn from what they see through our example. We cannot pretend or tell our children to do this or that, if we do not.
If they see that the parents shout and solve the conflicts to the blows, the children will assume it as something normal in their life. If they use blackmail, threats and lies in their daily lives, children will also incorporate it into the way they interact with others.
Tania also points out that we should teach them to be assertive in their decisions through our example, who know how to say things that annoy them from others. If we are assertive, we also teach our children to be.
Practice empathy
Empathy is the ability to put yourself in the place of another and understand what you feel or think without having to express it directly. It is very important to always put ourselves in the child's place, see the world through their eyes to understand what they feel or how they think.
Of course children need limits to feel safe, but limits set from empathy.
“Do we know as adults to set limits on others, those who bother us? Because if we ourselves are not able to do it, to face complicated situations, it will be very difficult for us to teach our children, "Tania García (Edurespeta).Listen actively
Listening is not only hearing what they tell us with words, but also being attentive to any signal that we can observe in the behavior of our children.
Sometimes they are not able to express their emotions, so it is very important that parents put into practice the method of active listening, putting ourselves at their height when communicating with our children with empathy, in an open and positive way.
Educate with coherence
Parents must be consistent in educating our children. It is closely linked to the example which we talked about before: “We cannot ask our children to wear slippers to walk around the house, if we go barefoot", says Tania García. Or tell them not to use their cell phone so much when we don't take off from it all day.
Educate with cohesion
It is key that both dad and mom agree when it comes to educating children, always focused on the most important thing we have: our children.
Spend time with the children
The collaboration with the children it helps us to know them better, it gives us the possibility to talk, explain things calmly, play and understand each other better with them, which has a positive impact on the formation of his personality.
Live sportingly
Finally, Tania ends up pointing the importance of sport as a tool to combat bullying. Sport releases and encourages children to respect for themselves and others, as well as companionship and healthy competitiveness, very important values to fight against bullying.
