Unfortunately, a person’s experience with bullying can start at a very young age. Sometimes, these negative experiences can continue well into adult life in some form or another. At the young and pure age of 4 and 5, my children have already experienced discrimination based on their skin color and learning disabilities. I began to realize the importance of teaching my children early on about being bullied and I encouraged them to never be a bully to anyone else. When they had their first encounter with a bully, it was a great opportunity for me to teach them about how even Jesus was consistently taunted, even until the day he died on the cross. Encourage your children to respond to bullying without vengeance or being abusive and demeaning of the other person. You can refer to the following verse and read how Jesus responded after getting slapped by a high priest – (John 18:19-23 NIV). Getting through a bully situation is never easy, but the righteous response can produce long term rewards.

Ask your child if they’ve ever personally experienced bullying or if they have ever bullied someone else. Encourage them to communicate with you in the future if these situations ever arise. You may even find it helpful to go over different scenarios and encourage the right responses.