Bullying is a habitual use of threat, coercion or force to intimidate abuse or dominate others who are of inferior strength or position. Bullying among teenagers mostly takes place in school or neighborhood where the older bigger or stronger teens bully the others. Parents, teachers and any adult dealing with teens should help them to deal with bullying and decide on a wise way to resolve the problem.

Identifying existence of bullying

The first step to help a teenager to overcome bullying or to deal with a bully is to get evidence about the existence of the act. It is not always that those who undergo bullying will speak about it. Bullying can be verbal, physical or psychological. Physical harassment is a bit easier to identify due to signs of swelling on the face, black eye, bloody lip or torn clothing.

Verbal and psychological bullying in most instances does not leave signs of physical evidence. If you notice that a teenager is changing for the worse,, it could be that bullying is taking place. These are essential changes to help in identifying likelihood of bullying

• Loss of appetite, sleeping difficulties and becoming teary
• Unexplainable moodiness, anxiety, and depression
• Frequent health complaints and illnesses
• Sudden loss of interest in school and drop in grades
• Social withdrawal or extended isolation

It is also essential to determine the likely cause of bullying as most bullies want to be in control of something.

Have a candid conversation

Talk with the teenager about the experiences and empathize with their situation. Encourage the adolescent to report the issue if recurs to adults who can help in dealing with the bully. Do not lessen the issue or under react as it will hurt the feelings of the teen even more and discourage reporting in future.

When a teenage shares a bullying experience, do not blame him or her for making comments such as "that there is something you did to attract the bullies." Usually, there is no reason for a bully to pick on a child except that they found a vulnerable soul at a time and place where they could torment. Always teach the adolescent that there is no justification for bullying and there is no reason to self-blame.

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Teach some reaction skills

It is essential to teach a kid not to let the bully triumph by reacting with anger or fear. Bullies use cruel words or acts to hurt, intimidate or shock their victims. If they just stand, become upset, lose control or cry, the bully will get the desired reaction or even attract groups to cheer their actions. Inform the kid to react by changing the dynamics by embarrassing the bullies.

A helpful way is to ignore the bully by pretending they do not hear, or by maintaining a straight face and refusing to react. When a person does not get angry or show interest in taunts, the bullies know they are not making headway and back off. Practice with the teen at home. If the bullying gets to a physical attack, encourage the teenager to only fight back for self-defense and run for help. It is safer to avoid retaliation since the bully might get help from a gang and hurt their victim more.

Intervention

Parent or guardians should strategize with teenagers on the best methods of intervention while those with a responsibility like a teacher or school principals should take action on the bully. Tell the victim that it is a right to live without bullying and encourage reporting of the incident. It is better when he teenager does it because intervention by an adult creates the impression that they are weak and cannot survive on their own. Inform them that reporting is not put someone in trouble but because bullying is nor right and there is a need to tell the authorities for them to take protective action.

If bullying involved a physical attack or threat of a beating, it is essential to report the matter to authorities at school, camp or the police because it requires an adult’s intervention. Follow up the case to its conclusion.

After resolving the issue, it essential to encourage the affected teenager to have close buddies for sharing the problem. Having close friend also prevents isolation and becoming a target of bullies.