American Morning

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December 9th, 2010
05:40 PM ET

Empowering our kids: Teaching kids to combat bullying

How do you combat bullying? It's a question that a lot of parents and schools are grappling with. In the first part of our series, Empowering our Kids, we take a look at a program started by two teachers who noticed that the kids getting bullied often lacked the social skills to know how to deal with it. So they're trying to give these kids the tools they need to stand up for themselves.
Filed under: American Morning • Bullying
soundoff (2 Responses)
  1. Scott

    And this right here is the problem with our schools. If you were out on the street and soembody came over and punched your child you would have the police go after them or their parents depending on their age. However, in schools, you have the teachers and administration wringing their hands and saying that the targeted children just need to behave differently and if they are lucky maybe the bullies will move on. Do they also recomend to rape victims that if they only wore bhurka's that that will take care of them getting attacked in the future?

    If these teachers who created this were noticing so much bullying that they "Created a program" here's an idea, take a few min. of that time and punish the tormenters.

    December 10, 2010 at 7:52 am |
  2. Judy Freedman

    Applause to the creators of Sociable Kidz! As a school social worker and author of Easing the Teasing- Helping Your Child Cope with Name-Calling, Ridicule, and Verbal Bullying (McGraw-Hill), I know that practicing and rehearsing responses to teasing and name-calling can make a difference! Yes, kids who are on the Autism spectrum are often likely targets. However, I believe that all children need to be empowered with skills to deal with teasing. We need to teach all children these coping skills in a pro-active way, the same way we teach "stranger danger" skills. When children are able to handle name-calling and teasing effectively and confidently, they are less likely to become victims of bullying. The bullies will move on to find the emotional reactions they are looking for. Kids cannot control the words and actions of the teasers, but they can learn to control their reactions to the tease.

    December 9, 2010 at 6:54 pm |
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