If you find yourself in a situation where your child is physically bullying others, there are steps you can take to stop this.

Does your child come home bloodied and/or are his or her clothes disheveled? Have you been called to your child?s school because he or she has been involved in a physical altercation with another student? Have you witnessed your child physically bullying his or her siblings?

More often than not, physical violence does not just happen. It begins with verbal abuse or verbal bullying of either someone at home or at school. In order to stop bullying from progressing to physical confrontations, the first step is to talk to the school-based support team which consists of psychologists, counselors, and social workers. This will help to alleviate further incidents at school.

On the home front, you may have already tried to speak with your child, punish your child, and are at your wits end. The only practical solution is to determine why your child is acting this way; when it began and why. Thus, you and your family will have to seek professional counseling. It may require group and individual sessions as well.

Physically bullying others is a serious issue and one which affects the entire family. Bullying begins in the home. If a child grows up witnessing a mother or father verbally bullying each other, the child will view it as normal behavior. So too, if a child witnesses physical violence in the home it is likely the child will also view it as normal, since they have never been taught it is wrong.

Adults get angry. The key is not to take that anger out on a family member. If you or your spouse begin to boil over, get out of the house; go for a walk; cool down. Never take out your frustrations on a spouse or the child.

Look at it from a child?s perspective. You and your spouse are having a fight. Perhaps it becomes so heated that one of you hit the other. If there is no remorse or apology, the child will see it as the only means to solve a problem. Children learn from their parents. They try to emulate them. If they view physical bullying as a means to an end without explaining why it's wrong, it will continue.

It all begins with verbal abuse and it must end with it as well. Children have to be taught the proper rules of conduct in a home, and parents must adhere to those rules as well. For children who grow up in a home where one adult is physically bullying another, and if there is no intervention, the child will become involved in physical bullying both at home with his or her siblings and at school.

When a child has no control over events that take place in the home, he or she will seek that control in other areas of his or her life, namely the school. There, he or she can exert as much power as possible.

Therefore, physically bullying others demands that immediate steps be taken to stop bullying as soon as it begins. If you have a child who falls under this category, it is critical that you and your family seek professional help before the situation gets worse. It can be stopped, but it will take commitment, vigilance and hard work by every family member to ensure it is addressed and corrected.

copyright By Mandy-Jane Clarke

Stop-Bullies.com