Sadly bullying knows no age 🙁
It does not discriminate. It is not just a phase. Bullying happens everywhere, schools, child daycare centers, churches, everywhere. Bullying is very personal to each and everyone of us, and should never be ignored. They need help, you need help, and change has to happen, it is our responsibility.
My day home is inclusive of age, race, gender etc… we celebrate differences by recognizing them and through understanding. No person is better than the other. Respect, tolerance, and empathy is upheld even through punishment. Dignity is observed at all times. My littles are taught very early on “We teach people how we want to be treated”. No one person has the right to make you feel less than worthy, or demean your abilities. We are perfect exactly how we are. Children are always encouraged to tell us if someone is doing something that hurts their feelings. In addition, the accused is always given the opportunity to correct their wrong, mistakes do happen. I have always had zero tolerance towards bullying. Through compassion towards each other there is a greater understanding towards both positive and negative actions.
It is amazing how quickly children learn to instigate intimidation as a means to get there own way, even at the expense of a good friend. Taking the time to teach children about accountability is crucial to getting them to understand that they make a choice to be mean. Hence, we have always tried to impose mindfulness into our daily routine. A favorite set of books my day home uses are Have You Filled a Bucket Today? , Bucket Filling from A to Z, and Buckets, Dippers, and Lids. Such an insightful set of books, that when put into practice have been incredibly helpful for my littles in my day home. These books are very child friendly for understanding. Although there are many other forms of resources available, these have been my “go to” for quite a while.
Another positive activity we do is through behavior charts and discussing our emotions. Incentive Reward Chart is a visual that offers a positive reward to help with regulating negative behaviors, giving us, the adults, the opportunity to help the children work through difficult situations. Easily accepted, these visual aids are great for children of all ages. Take the time to teach children to repeat to themselves, “If I have nothing good to say, say nothing at all”. Not to squelch opinions but to emphasize the importance of being uplifting. Even as adults, it is best to try to make a negative into a positive. Through praise, and recognition to help aid in desirable behavior in children. Although I am sure I will approach this topic again, remember there are no “Bad” children, but some behaviors are not okay.