I want to talk about the options we as Martial Artist have when we are dealing with a bully. A lot of times when we teach this, during our new martial arts student orientation, we find that children are giving incorrect advice when dealing with a bully. Allow me to share with you the three options your child has when dealing with a bully. The first two are ones that most children, possibly even yours, have been told to do. The third is what we teach them to do.
1. Ignore the bully: When told to ignore the bully most children are told not to acknowledge the bully at all. The problem with this is that it is the bully’s choice when and if they want to stop! What if the bully doesn’t get bored and keep bullying? After all they won’t find an easier target than than the person that does nothing. What we teach instead is to use two power phrases that steal the bully’s power.
2. Walk away: Good idea, right? The problem here is that you have to surrender your life to the bully. It starts by not playing on the section of the playground your child would want to or not sitting at the table they might want to at lunch. Then it turns into not wanting to play on a sports team because the bully may be a teammate. Eventually, children don’t want to go to school at all. This gives the bully too much power over us.
3. Deal with the bully and end it: In Martial Arts, specifically at Flourtown ATA, teach our students to confront and deal with the bully. There are many methods to this that we teach in a 10 week program. We teach them the three weapons they can use against bullies and power phrases to use. Another key factor is a personal safety program. Children and adults who have self-defense confidence are far more likely to verbally stand up to a bully.
If you or someone you know is having an issue with a bully, please reach out to an instructor. You can check out our Facebook and Instagram pages for more details – http://Facebook.com/flourtownata, or the website – http://Flourtownata.com