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Bullying can lead to great growth – as well as causing big problems. With clear boundaries, better skills, and strong support, everyone involved can learn what to do, as well as what to not do.
Bullying is common in most kinds of groups. At Kidpower, we have seen bullying between managers, college students, toddlers, people who are coping with a disability, people playing sports, people doing community service, people who are extremely low income, people who have tremendous financial wealth, and people living and working in homes for the elderly – as well as between children, parents, and educators in schools.
The good news is that bullying incidents can present us with opportunities to learn and practice social skills – and to build more healthy relationships.
Learning how to take charge of their own safety, how to act safely towards others even if they feel frustrated or upset, and how to advocate effectively empowers most people and gives them tools to better manage future conflicts and relationship issues.
As one mother wrote, “ I look at what my son gained from the episode of his life when he got badly bullied and then was bullying for a short period of time himself (which made us find out about him being bullied), I must say that he’s so much better off now. It was not easy, it was not quick, but it taught all of us such a lot of good things. Because of the work we did together and the support we received, my son learned to make new friends. He became strong in himself and immune to peer pressure – the dream of every parent for a teenager!”
Published: October 30, 2010 | Last Updated: September 19, 2012
Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director
Kidpower Founder and Executive Irene van der Zande is a master at teaching safety through stories and practices and at inspiring others to do the same. Her child protection and personal safety expertise has been featured by USA Today, CNN, Today Moms, the LA Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Publications include: cartoon-illustrated Kidpower Safety Comics and Kidpower Teaching Books curriculum; Bullying: What Adults Need to Know and Do to Keep Kids Safe; the Relationship Safety Skills Handbook for Teens and Adults; Earliest Teachable Moment: Personal Safety for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers; The Kidpower Book for Caring Adults: Personal Safety, Self-Protection, Confidence, and Advocacy for Young People, and the Amazon Best Seller Doing Right by Our Kids: Protecting Child Safety at All Levels.
