Any child who unfortunately experiences bullying will feel less confident than when bullying situation began. Building back up self-confidence is absolute key to solving any bullying situation and put a stop to it in the long term. Although any bullying situation may need the intervention of an adult whether that be a parent, teacher or a responsible adult designated to dealing with the circumstances the child will need confidence and self-worth to stop a bullying predicament reoccurring. Those children who possess high self-esteem and confidence are maybe less likely to experience bullying as they may come across as strong rather than weak.

Bullies tend to target children who are different i.e.

• Smaller children –  children who are smaller than their peers seem to be open to bullying as they are seen as weak in terms of strength
• Children considered overweight – we live in a nation of obesity so it should be a common occurrence to see children heavier than they should be but even children who are obese are still seen as different and lack confidence due to their weight. Children who are obese cannot participate in some activities due to their weight so are often left out. Bullies see obsess children as a target especially to name calling.
• Intellectual children – this is a difficult one but bullies may feel intimidated by children that are clever and set out ways to find avenues to intimidate that child so that the bully feels superior. Children sometimes who are intellectually clever have poor social skills and a bully will use this to their advantage.
• Poor interaction and social skills – children with who are non-assertive and lack in self-confidence are primary targets for any bully. Bullies know that children who are passive already have a low self-esteem and are unlikely to confront an adult and tell of this behaviour. Bullies themselves often lack self-esteem but by bulling a person with little or no confidence allows the bully to feel above such a person.

This is why building a child’s confidence and self-worth is vital even if there is no evidence of bullying as it makes the child more assertive and willing to learn and encourages progress or it can put a stop to any bullying that may occur in the future.

Building Self-Confidence

Children who have a high level of confidence very often can interact with others on any level and have good social skills especially when it comes to making friends. Dealing with difficult situation can be over bearing for those children who lack confidence and very often when they are put in a position by where they are being bullied they do not possess the skills to know how to deal with this type of behaviour.

Here are ways to help your child to build inner confidence:

• Always tell you child how special and loved they are
• Uniqueness is something to be valued and each and every child is different in their own way
• Praise your child when praise is due and encourage them in all aspects of life
• If a child is being bullied go through their experiences and show them outlets, responses, when to walk away, and when to inform a responsible adult
• Selfdefence classes are an option especially if the child is encountering physical bullying
• Help them to understand why bullies bully, that is it usually down to problems the bully faces itself