Sadly, bullying has been around for a long time. It does not just involve conflicts between boys. Girls may also be bullies. Often, such incidents occur outside of the eyes of watchful adults, like teachers and parents.
Types of Harassment –
It is common today for harassment to begin and be fueled away from the victim. Cyber harassment is common today. Bullies can spread deceitful rumors about your child and invite others to move beyond the virtual world and participate in real life harassment tactics. Children may be having things stolen from them as they come or go from school. They may be targeted in the school locker room, physically or through theft and menacing threats. Harassment may occur over boyfriend or girlfriend situations. Children may be threatened to join gangs.
No Commonality Among the Victims –
Any child can become the target of harassment. For some, it may be that other children are jealous of their academic ability. Others may be targeted because they do not look strong or because they do not follow some concocted “norm” that children mimic from the media. Other children may find themselves victimized because they just are at the wrong place at the wrong time. As we know, the victim is not the perpetrator. Your child and all children have a right to be free from bullying and other forms of abuse.
Problems Children Experience When They are Targets of Bullying –
Children who are targets of bullies may not want to go to school. Their grades may suffer. They can lose their self-esteem and self-confidence. When harassment is prolonged, children may be stifled in their unique self-expression. Long-term effects of harassment can include depression, under-achievement, and a hesitance to be self-assertive in other situations. This can harm a child’s proper formation of their personality.
A Hidden Crime –
Sadly, your child could be the victim of bullies today, and you might not know. Children can be reticent to admit that someone is bothering them. Bullies often shame their victims. All too often, groups of children stand and watch harassment as bystanders. The bystanders often lack the self-esteem and courage to say, “No,” to the bully. This makes the victim feel that everyone is against them.
What to Do? –
Counting on adults to see and do the right thing is not always possible. Ideally, that is the best solution. Children who are being bullied and their bystander friends and cohorts need to have the training to be able to confidently deal with such situations when an adult is not present. Sometimes, children will be on their own and will have to cope with this type of danger.
Martial Arts Training –
By teaching children martial arts, they learn self-defense and gain the confidence to stand up to bullies. Our training teaches children to be good citizens who have self-esteem and are self-assertive. Our training also teaches children to do the right thing and be a caring person and to be proud of that. Asian defensive combat arts training teaches the other skills that come before having to fight, like saying, “No,” and defusing tense situations. The training we provide helps students have the confidence to stand up to a bully on behalf of a friend if that is safe. Asian defensive combat arts training also teaches children when it is not safe to stand up for another and what to do next.
Asian Defensive Combat Arts Training Improves Physical Shape and Development –
Children in our Asian defensive combat arts classes are able to improve their cardiovascular health, agility, and strength. This alone inspires more confidence in one’s own abilities when one is in strong, agile and vigorous health. Bullies are less likely to pick on a child who is vigorous and strong. Bullies tend to be cowards who have poor self-esteem. A child in better physical shape with Asian defensive combat arts training will be more likely to fend off a bully than a child in poor physical shape who has no such physical training in their background.
Martial Arts Training Emphasizes Defensive Strategies –
Asian defensive combat arts training is not just about how to kick and punch when the time comes to physically defend oneself. Our training emphasizes all aspects of self-defense – such as staying fully aware of one’s surroundings; being aware of danger signs; and knowing how to diffuse a situation with words, self-assertion and confident actions. When your children participate in our Asian defensive combat arts training classes, they learn the proper reactions to tough situations and practice those reactions over and over, so they can use them automatically when the time comes.
Some schools have a zero tolerance policy on any type of fight and any student that is a combatant in a fight, even when the combatant is the victim of harassment. In our Asian defensive combat arts classes, your children will learn how to defend themselves, first with words and actions, as appropriate. This is important. Many fights involving children can be defused if one of the children is trained on how to do just that. Some school has a zero tolerance policy for any student combatants, which sadly assigns blame and punishment to the victim of harassment who may have had to resort to simply defending him or herself. Our Asian defensive combat arts training program will help your child know when to run, when to use words and when to physically defend himself.
All children can benefit from learning the self-defense techniques we teach in our classes and from building their physical strength and agility. This helps their self-confidence and provides them the skills to stay safe, even when adults are not present to ensure their physical safety. This allows them to flower in their own unique manner, not a servant to anyone else – each their own master.
Contact us today about how we can help your child stay bully-proof, confident and free. The best part is that our classes are enjoyable and engaging year-round recreation for the whole family!