Kids Learn How To Handle Bullies

Bullies beware.

held an anti-bullying seminar Tuesday with author Dee Dee Sutherland whose book, There’s Always A Bully, teaches children how to effectively deal with bullying situations at school.

Children in attendance also were given the chance to participate in a workshop where they came up with methods to deal with bullies.

Sutherland said that as a child she was bullied, and at the time bullying was not an issue that was given much attention.

Now she says that she is the mother of a bullied son, though she isn’t surprised. Sutherland said there is a bullying epidemic in today’s culture, but schools are beginning to take bullying more seriously.

“Bullying has destroyed so many lives,” Sutherland said. “And this is such a big issue, it’s in the limelight now. Victims of bullies are being taught that they have a voice.”

Sutherland said bullying typically peaks by middle school where so many different cliques are brought together. The cliques can clash and evolve into bullying, or if children are trained to treat each other with respect, they can come together peacefully.

Sutherland has made it her mission to reach elementary students before the “peak phase.”

“Schools all over the country are cracking down,” Sutherland said.

While Sutherland admits bullying is a complex issue that comes from unique home circumstances, her message on Tuesday was for the victims and bystanders who deal with bullies firsthand.

Pressing the need to end the cloak of silence about bullying abuses, Sutherland told kids they must tell adults about bullies to help prevent incidents like the one in Hadley, Massachusetts where cyber bullying by teenagers led to the suicide of a 15-year-old girl.

“We’re not going to tolerate it anymore,” Sutherland said. “Not in today’s society. We’re always shocked when someone commits suicide or brings a gun into a school. Why aren’t we shocked when the bullying starts?”

Concerned parents can visit Sutherland’s website www.theresalwaysabully.com.