According to educational sources, here are some things you can do to help your child become more aware of bullying behaviors:

• Encourage your child to talk about how to make friends, how they treat their friends and how to be a good friend.

• Discuss with your child what bullying is and what kinds of behaviors demonstrate bullying.

• As you watch television with your child, help him or her identify language, dialogue, or actions that demonstrate bullying behavior, such as "put downs" or "jokes" in comedy shows.

• As your child deals with bullying situations at home or school, be open to discussing ways in which he or she can handle those situations. Discuss how to avoid bullying situations.

• Help your child become sensitive to his or her own behaviors or language that may be of a bullying nature as he or she deals with siblings or friends.

CONFLICT VS. BULLYING

CONFLICT is a disagreement that happens when people want different things. The people involved in a conflict have equal power to solve the problem. They are not purposely trying to hurt each other.

BULLYING is unfair and one-sided. It happens when someone keeps hurting, frightening, threatening, or leaving someone out on purpose.

5 WAYS TO HANDLE A BULLYING SITUATION

•  Walk away; find your own friends
  

•  Tell an adult and get the teasing stopped fast
  

•  Ignore the tease, which takes the fun out of it
  

•  Stand up for yourself without fighting
  

•  Do what you feel is right, not what others tell you to do

REPORTING VS. TATTLING