Bullied by peers, 14-year-old jumps from 10th floor

Bengaluru: A 14-year-old student who police suspect was bullied by his peers jumped off the 10th floor of his apartment complex in JP Nagar. Raunak Banerjee, a class 9 student at Baldwin Boys’ High School, jumped to death on June 29 after returning from school. – Times of India

A few days back, we came to know about a case of bullying and suicide in Bangalore and again questioned our parenting methods and the way things are going for our children.

What is bullying? 

According to Wikipedia- Bullying is the use of force, threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively dominate others. The behaviour is often repeated and habitual. 

There are two kinds of cases in bullying- Kids who are bullies and the kids who get bullied. Bullying is mainly of two types-

Physical

Verbal

Or internet or cyberbullying is very common these days.

Points to teach-

It’s very important to teach our kids some important things about bullying-

1. Don’t be quiet- Teach the kids to stand up not only for themselves but for their friends and peers too. Teach them how to handle the situation and what to say in different situations and not to be violent but do it verbally. Teach them to take control of the situation but not over react.
2. Inform adults- We should teach them to inform adults around them like parents, teachers or any other trusted adult. Sometimes bullies threaten them and they get scared to discuss anything with parents.  Teach them to be calm and patient if anybody is bothering you and inform your elders later.
3. Be a good example- As parents, we should also set a good example for our kids. Kids follow by example, if they see us standing up for ourselves, they will learn a better lesson. Sometimes, kids learn this behaviour from near ones only like family or friends.
4. Being empathetic– Sometimes parents are not aware if their child is bullying other kids in school. It is important to build empathy in your kids. It is parent’s duty to guide them in the right direction by showing them right examples.
5. Lack of attention- If a child feels inferior in any way, there are chances of him being a bully or bullied himself. This one can work both ways as when a child feels neglected or there is lack of attention from family or friends. To act cool in front of others, he might pick up on kids weaker than him. On the other hand, there are more chances of him getting bullied. If his parents are not around or he is a loner.

Be open, talk to your kids, teach them good lessons, and above all – Be there for them. 🙂

As they say, “The two words that will make  difference in your parenting- BE THERE.”

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