Rebuilding Your Child’s Self-Esteem After Bullying
Over 20% of all kids confess that they have been explicitly bullied at school or on social media. The kids’ appearances trigger most bullying incidents – be it their skin color or body shape.
Bullying has several long-term side effects on your child, which varies from depression to social anxiety. And it’s your child’s self-esteem that takes the biggest beating after prolonged bullying.
Once you know how your kid’s self-esteem has been dented by bullying, probably by their own classmates, how would you help them regain confidence? If you’re finding it difficult to help boost your child’s confidence and restore their self-esteem, the following small steps may help them almost instantly.
Encourage Them to Explore Something New
Your child may find it difficult to go out and try something new. To break their inhibition, you should give them a new setting where they may flourish and encourage them to continue with it. For instance, if your daughter is interested in pottery or your son is mechanically-inclined and fit to get involved in robotics, you can find them a new place to learn new skills and connect with new people.
Discovering their hidden talents will make the kids more confident and encourage them to build new friendships, giving them a new outlet away from the school bullies.
Teach Them Self-Expression
You should encourage your kid to chase their true passions and teach them to express themselves. By letting them have a haircut of their choice or wear clothes they love, you can make them ooze confidence. Since most bullies pick up on appearances, you can teach your kid to love their appearance, which will also boost their self-esteem.
Teach Them to Stand UP for Themselves
Often, young kids fall prey to bullying as they don’t have the language to protect themselves. If you observe your child being teased about the same things every day, teach the kid to stand up for himself. This will make the kid feel more self-sufficient and empowered, which can significantly boost his self-esteem.
Spend Quality Time with Your Child
Bullied children need a lot of attention from their parents. You should spend quality time with your child while giving your complete attention and encouraging them to talk about their struggles. All these will create positive memories in their minds. When they experience difficult times in the future, they can recall spending time with you as a calming activity and could ask for another “date day.”
By making them feel valued this way and acknowledging their best characteristics, you can counteract the effects of bullying and restore their beaten self-esteem to newer heights.
Conclusion
Bullying is a dreadful experience for any child to endure. It gives rise to unreasonable fears and worries in kids, who speculate if they are indeed as awful as their bullies make them out to be. Practicing a few of these easy steps could create a huge difference when it comes to rebuilding your bullied kid’s self-esteem and boosting their confidence about who they are.