October is National Bullying Prevention Month: What can you do to help stop bullying?

Source: Thriveworks | Repost Fight for Life Foundation 9/20/2023 –

From elementary school through high school, many children experience bullying from their classmates every year. Bullying is harmful to all parties and can cause lingering emotional trauma that affects children well into adulthood.

In an effort to protect kids and limit bullying’s damaging effects, October has been recognized as National Bullying Prevention Month. This national event is meant to inspire more people to get involved in spreading awareness about bullying and educating others on what their role could be in preventing it.

Whether you learn how to spot the signs of bullying in your child or simply wear orange on Unity Day, taking action during National Bullying Prevention Month will move us one step closer to putting a stop to bullying.

Types of Bullying

There are three main types of bullying: Verbal, physical, and social:

• Verbal bullying is the act of expressing mean or rude things through spoken or written words. This can look like teasing, name-calling, using racial slurs, or threatening someone.
• Physical bullying can come in the form of hitting or punching, tripping, pushing, and stealing and breaking belongings.
• Finally, there’s social bullying. Often, this looks like excluding, spreading rumors about one or more individuals, intentionally embarrassing someone, or telling others not to be friends with a particular person.

Since bullying is largely a problem in schools, in the past students could sometimes find an escape from bullying at home. However, the advent of technology, cyberbullying—or bullying using the internet and social media—has worsened the issue.

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