There are several signs that can help parents to identify that the child or adolescent may be suffering bullying, such as unwillingness to go to school, constant crying or fury attacks, for example.
Generally, children who are more likely to be bullied are the most shy, those who suffer from a disease, such as obesity or those who wear glasses or a device, for example, and parents should be particularly attentive to these characteristics. However, all children can be bullied and, therefore, parents should teach the child to defend themselves from an early age.
Signs of bullying
When the child is being bullied at school, he usually shows some physical and psychological signs, such as:
- Lack of interest in the school, making a tantrum for not wanting to go in fear of physical or verbal aggression; Isolation, avoiding being close to friends and family, closing in the room and not wanting to go out with colleagues; He has lower grades at school, due to lack of attention in class; He does not value himself, saying that he is often incapable; He presents attacks of fury and impulsiveness, wanting to hit himself and others or throwing objects. He cries constantly and apparently for no reason; He keeps his head down, feeling tired; He has trouble sleeping, often having nightmares; He has wounds on his body and the child says he does not know how it came about; He comes home with torn or dirty clothes or does not bring his belongings; He has a lack of appetite, not wanting to eat or the favorite food; He says he feels headaches and stomach pain several times a day, which is usually an excuse for not going to school, for example.
These signs indicate sadness, insecurity and lack of self-esteem and constant stress also causes physical signs in the child. It is also common for children or adolescents who are bullied at school to avoid contact with the aggressor, so as not to suffer, and to remain in isolation. In addition, some adolescent victims of bullying start to consume alcohol and drugs in an attempt to escape from reality, however, they end up harming their health. See what the consequences of bullying are.
How to identify signs of bullying
To identify whether a child or adolescent suffers from bullying, it is necessary to:
- Talk to the child, to understand how he feels at school, asking how the school went, if there are any children who treat him badly at school, with those who are in between, for example; Check the body and belongings: it is important that the parents should, in the bath, check if the child has an injured body, if the clothes on the body are not torn and if they have brought all belongings, such as cell phones, for example; Talking to teachers: talking to the teacher helps to understand the child's behavior at school.
If the child or adolescent shows signs of bullying, parents should make an appointment for psychological counseling as soon as possible to help cope with the problem and avoid developing depression, for example.
