Fenyx Blue, former Those Who Excel Teacher of the Year, mother of three, creator of Team Bully-Free Forever, and youth empowerment activist shares her insights on dealing with bullying during a pandemic

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Parenting during a pandemic has been difficult, but being distant has not prevented bullying from entering households across the globe.  Distance learning has continued to be a breeding ground for another virus called cyberbullying.  How can parents, teachers and trusted adults help our youth to deal with bullying in 2021?

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, one out of every five students reports being bullied.  The students say they face rumors, exclusion and name calling.

Tackling tough issues like bullying requires three strategies:  Learn, listen and love.

Parents may not be surprised by these statistics during in-person instruction in unstructured areas like hallways and bathrooms, but may be frustrated to discover that bullying is happening in their homes through screens that connect students online.

Battle of The Bullies is a fictional tale meant to serve as a conversation starter for students to have tough conversations about what truly happens amongst students in real life. 

How can the book help?  Tackling tough issues like bullying requires three strategies:  Learn, listen and love.

Battle of The Bullies addresses all types of bullying.  When parents, teachers and trusted adults learn about physical bullying, cyberbullying, verbal bullying, and relational bullying they can learn how to get help.  They will also need to learn where bullying is happening.  Where is the child, tween, or teen spending their time?  This will require listening to the child.  Does the child love to go on Snapchat, Tik Tok, Youtube, Instagram, or Twitter?  Is the child a part of a private group chat through a cell phone? The adult will need to obtain information which may require showing love and grace.  Nod, smile, have positive posture, and ask questions in a calm manner even when you may hear something you do not want to know.  The young person is looking to you to see if they will be able to trust you with information in the future.  

The high school characters in Battle of The Bullies try to  solve problems on their own, but they realize that they can not handle it all alone.  They have to find someone willing to learn about their problems who will listen and who will love them no matter what.  The book will remind the young person in your life that they already know someone who will fight beside them in the battle against bullies.  They already know you.

For more information about Fenyx Blue and her latest book, Battle of the Bullies, visit my earlier post Blog Post + Giveaway: Battle of the Bullies.