Is Your Child Being Bullied?

Children with ADHD and LD are often more prone to being bullied by their peers than other children. I suppose they seem easy prey to those who want to hurt others. My son had his first experience with a bully last year in the second grade. The bully was in the fifth grade. It started out gradually as slight annoyances on the bus. Then it progressed to school. Eventually the bully called my child horrible names, harassed him and finally punched him in the face. Of course I went straight to the school and spoke with the vice-principal. I was assured that "something" would be done. Well, the bullying continued on. I decided to do something myself. I picked my child up every day so he would not have to be on the bus with this child. I arranged for him to take a different route to and from classes to further avoid contact with the child. I was astonished at the school's lack of concern for my son. Thank goodness, the bully has now moved on to middle school and is no longer a problem! During this time, however, I made sure to do everything I could to boost my son's self-esteem. I let him know that it wasn't his fault the child was picking on him, etc. I found several article on the web that helped me deal with this situation.

• Bully proof your kids
• My child with ADD is being bullied
• ...The impact on kids with LD or ADHD
• How to help your child cope with bullying

How well do you understand bullying? Take this quiz and find out. Want to read more about the problem of bullying, what causes it and how to prevent it? Here are several books I found online that deal with this issue:

• "Bullies Are a Pain in the Brain" ages 8 - 13
• "Blue Cheese Breath and Stinky Feet: How to Deal with Bullies " ages 6 - 12
• "The Bully Free Classroom" grades K - 8
• "The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander"
• "Your Child: Bully or Victim? Understanding and Ending Schoolyard Tyranny"
• "It's So Much Work to Be Your Friend" for parents