9 Signs Your Child Is Being Bullied & How To Overcome This
The uncomfortable reality is that bullying is on the rise, and recent statistics suggest that your child is being bullied or knows someone who is. There are nine telltale signs that suggest bullying, as well as effective ways you can address this as a parent. In this article we will explore both, but first, let’s look at the statistics.
The Reality of Bullying
To get a more accurate picture of what our children deal with when they’re not in our care, we have found statistics from reputable sources that demonstrate the extent of schoolyard bullying. Shockingly, these studies suggest between a quarter and a third of Australian students are being bullied at school.
The Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study reported that 1 in 4 students (in a sample of 20,832 Australian students aged between 8 and 14 years) reported being bullied every few weeks or more, with the highest prevalence rates being reported by children in Year 5 (age 10-11 years) (Cross et al., 2009).
Data drawn from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children found that almost 1 in 3 students aged 10-11 years reported being bullied or picked on by peers, with name calling being far more common than physical bullying (Lodge & Baxter, 2013). (Source www.aifs.gov.au).
These are worrying statistics to say the least.
Signs Your Child Is Being Bullied
- A reluctance to go to school, loss of interest in school work or declining grades.
- Frequent headaches or stomach aches, feeling sick or faking an illness.
- A change to their group of friends or avoidance of social situations.
- Sleeping difficulties or frequent nightmares.
- Intense emotional outbursts, crying or self destructive behaviour.
- Feelings of helplessness or decreased self esteem.
- A change to their eating patterns; either withdrawal from food or binge eating.
- Torn clothing, physical marks or loss or damage of property ie. books, devices, jewellery etc.
- They’ve developed a ‘victim’ posture.
What To Do If You Suspect Bullying
Talking to your child who is displaying signs of being bullied will help to identify the cause of the problem. Staying calm and positive will help to reassure your child, and drawing on resources for support will enable you to help them even better.
At Arakan Martial Art ® we are proud to be one of these resources. Our team are passionate about helping children to develop self-confidence, empowerment, focus and self-awareness as well as effective self defence skills and techniques. We work regularly with children who are suffering at the hands of bullies to not only empower them, but also help them learn the necessary skills to ensure their safety and wellbeing.
Overcoming Bullies With Arakan Martial Art
At Arakan Martial Art® your child will learn to diffuse a situation before it escalates, or should the situation then escalate, they will learn how to effectively protect themselves.
Arakan Martial Art® teaches children to adapt to many situations and environments, become dynamic, adaptable and capable of ensuring the safety and wellbeing of themselves and others. Arakan Martial Art® is fast, powerful, unique, fluid, practical and highly effective in teaching your child to defend themselves against one or even multiple attackers.
Through training your child will learn to develop impenetrable defences; deflections, blocks, traps, intercepting hands, bridges and intricate footwork that allows them to dynamically flow around a ‘bully’, giving them a huge advantage.
Your child will learn to connect and move their body in a very dynamic way and use a ‘bully’s energy against themselves. By using an opponent’s energy against themselves your child doesn’t have to be the biggest person in the room to effectively protect themselves or others.
Arakan Martial Art® is more than just learning striking and kicking because it goes way beyond the physical. It’s about developing an unshakeable inner strength. Your child will develop discipline, gain greater focus, self-empowerment, self-awareness, as well as learn powerful self-protection techniques. All of these attributes will then transition into greater areas of their life as they mature into adulthood.
Our Goal For Your Child
At Arakan Martial Art® your child’s safety is our number one priority. Your child will learn and develop in a nurturing, positive, creative and fun environment. Our goal is to empower your child and ensure they are equipped with the skills and techniques to ensure their safety and wellbeing.
It is our goal for your child to:
- increase self-awareness,
- increase situational and environmental awareness,
- learn ‘street smart’ skills that will help them to deal with everyday life situations,
- learn practical and effective self-defence skills,
- gain self-confidence, empowerment, discipline and focus,
- learn skills and techniques to ensure their safety and wellbeing,
- learn skills to remain calm in heightened situations,
- learn to diffuse and divert a potential situation,
- learn to control any situation should it escalate, effectively and efficiently,
- increase health and fitness,
- increase speed, agility and flexibility,
- learn to manage stressful situations and levels,
- improve mental focus and concentration,
- gain a greater understanding of body mechanics,
- improve hand eye coordination and speed,
- increase self-motivation and self-discipline,
- increase team motivation and building,
- increase levels of self-respect and respect for others.
Help Your Child Overcome Bullying Today!
At Arakan Martial Art® your child will learn to protect themselves against potential grabs, punches, kicks and tackles in an experiential way. This enables your child’s awareness to become more heightened and increases their ability to identify potential situations. This also raises your child’s threshold and prepares them emotionally and mentally should a situation occur in real life.
All Arakan Martial Art® lessons are conducted in a safe, fun and friendly environment where children learn how to become more aware of danger and respond with efficient and effective self-protection techniques. Lessons are structured in a playful yet disciplined way, to ensure your child receives the most benefits. Your child will learn self-protection skills and techniques, whilst becoming more empowered, self confident, focused and disciplined. We have your child’s very best interests at heart and we are here to be of service and take great pride and responsibility in our role.
Arakan Martial Art® specialises in private training lessons and specialised junior group classes, which we believe are the safest and fastest ways for your child to learn new skills, ‘street smarts’ and awareness. Private training lessons ensure your child will have the undivided attention of a fully qualified instructor to guide them on their journey.
All instructors hold ‘Suitability Cards’ for child related employment (Blue Card). We offer a complimentary one hour private lesson to assess your child, their needs and create a program based on that assessment.
Please contact us to get your child started today with a complimentary private lesson