Bullying at school

[Red21]

Hi , I understand this is. It a short term fix yet thought to share what popped up in my email box, I am taking my daughter who is 13 with a friend , it is funded by Kidsport also with $200, maybe plus the uniform, so what's to lose but an hours class and travel, for a long term fix?  Though it's not for all, but maybe for some.   

i blotted out out the company name in Perth , yet here's the rest of their email .... 

Many of us have been bullied at some time, or at least witnessed our friends or other kids being bullied.
Even now, with all the publicity about bullying and the zero tolerance attitude of schools, many kids who are bullied suffer in silence - in fact the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that 27% of of children in Australia have experienced some form of bullying....thats one in four children !

So how can you as a parent spot the signs? And more importantly,what can you do about it?

Our program at ********* Martial Arts approaches different ways to handle bullying.

A typical class discussing Bully prevention would include;
Verbal Bullying
Physical Bullying
​Social Bullying

With confidence and discipline, children can avoid bullies wherever they are. Once your child show signs of
weakness, they are more likely to be bullied. But when they are confident enough about their own self, they can appear stronger.

By practicing martial arts, children will effectively develop leadership as well as self defense whenever they are outside their homes. So, if you are currently looking for an excellent partner to train your child, ******** Martial Arts is the place to be. We offer professional and child-friendly methods that your child will surely enjoy.

Don't let your child be a statistic. Give them a life skill they deserve.

[Red21]

Hi , I understand this is. It a short term fix yet thought to share what popped up in my email box, I am taking my daughter who is 13 with a friend , it is funded by Kidsport also with $200, maybe plus the uniform, so what's to lose but an hours class and travel, for a long term fix?  Though it's not for all, but maybe for some.   

i blotted out out the company name in Perth , yet here's the rest of their email .... 

Many of us have been bullied at some time, or at least witnessed our friends or other kids being bullied.
Even now, with all the publicity about bullying and the zero tolerance attitude of schools, many kids who are bullied suffer in silence - in fact the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that 27% of of children in Australia have experienced some form of bullying....thats one in four children !

So how can you as a parent spot the signs? And more importantly,what can you do about it?

Our program at ********* Martial Arts approaches different ways to handle bullying.

A typical class discussing Bully prevention would include;
Verbal Bullying
Physical Bullying
​Social Bullying

With confidence and discipline, children can avoid bullies wherever they are. Once your child show signs of
weakness, they are more likely to be bullied. But when they are confident enough about their own self, they can appear stronger.

By practicing martial arts, children will effectively develop leadership as well as self defense whenever they are outside their homes. So, if you are currently looking for an excellent partner to train your child, ******** Martial Arts is the place to be. We offer professional and child-friendly methods that your child will surely enjoy.

Don't let your child be a statistic. Give them a life skill they deserve.

[Ngaio-RO]

Thanks for that @Red21 And thank you for deleting their names and sticking to the guidelines.

There has always been a side of the bullying argument that says teaching kids to defend themselves physically is the best way to keep them safe. 

At Reach Out, our position is always one of anti-violence.  

How do you feel about that sort of stuff? And how does learning self-defense fit with your views on this stuff?

I'd love to hear from other parents too, about whether they have or would get their teenager to learn self-defence

[hashtagmum]

One of mine did martial arts to quite a high level in primary school.  This was not for bullying reasons but I think it did help with her self-confidence.  One time a boy at school grabbed her and she did go into kung fu fighter mode instinctively and hurt this other boy (which noone could believe as there was such a size difference between her and the boy).  Other thing I liked about it was that the adults involved in the martial arts school were really calm, gentle people and a good reminder that you don't have to be mean to be tough.  Not sure how well it would work as a way of defending against teenage bullying though, ie, what is really needed is to change the culture of the schools rather than putting the onus on victims to fight back.  Might be a good thing for schools as a whole to do rather than just the kids being bullied.

I do like the idea of having older peer support leaders or mentors.  Those type of programs can be enormously helpful to the older students involved as well. 

[Ngaio-RO]

Couldn't agree more @hashtagmum I had a very similar experience.

My eldest daughter and, later, my son did karate and what I liked most was the positive role modelling of big, strong men and women who the kids believed could kill anyone with a flick of their pinky finger but who were endlessly calm and patient and NEVER glorified violence. In fact, when Max was doing it, any kids caught using karate at school or on their siblings at home, were reprimanded by Sensei. 

I don't know whether the kids that went there had better outcomes in terms of bullying though. 

[Red21]

@Ngaio-RO I have tried Karate years ago and this recent school also have an anti bullying program , it was on Channel 10 news recently , teaching skills of the mat about virtues for same anti bullying message.  It comes from a change of mindset and non physical context (like i say off the mat).  An early intervention discipline education , not for all but makes the need for contact a smaller one in real life scenarios  as the bigger man or woman will have learned to walk away without need to prove physical strength yet mental and emotional regulation. 

It's an interesting one hey ...