What can parents do?????
1.) Communicate: Make sure you communicate well with your children. Your home should be an open and honest environment where children feel like they can talk to you about anything.
2.) Listen: Do not unconsciously blame the child if he is being abused. Sometimes parents will ask, "What did you say or do that made someone do so?" Instead, reflect your child's feelings. Being told “you are a coward and stupid and it must be your fault”, can really hurt the child.
3.) Believe :When we believe in our children's feelings they will feel as if they can continue the conversation without being judged. They become more comfortable exchanging information.
4.) Never send your child alone: Abuse occurs more often when a child is alone. Encourage your child to travel in a group to school, movies or the mall.
5.) Report it: Report any incident of abuse to the school if it is somehow related to the institution. Most schools have policies and procedures that they have implemented. Try to get your child involved in reporting the harassment. Children need to know that they are not alone and can reach out to adults to get help.
6.) Explain the children how to react: Abusers are looking for angry and defensive responses. Parents can teach children healthy ways to communicate so that they can get themselves out from these harmful interactions. Children should know that language is their best defense against bullies.
7.) Don’t depend upon others: The most common problem of our society is depending upon others to look after OUR children.They can be servants, relatives or family friends. Always remember there is NO person in this world who can replace the love, care and protection which you can give to your child .When we give someone else the child’s responsibility, actually we ourselves are pushing our child towards the abusers.
