The 1st Anti-Bully Technique to Teach

Some people feel that when a young child mistreats another young child, they need to receive immediate punishment to teach them a lesson. Others think they need to be reasoned with and gently told what the right thing to do is over and over again until it sinks in.

But there is another question to consider.

It's this! Could we teach young children to problem-solve instead? Is that even possible?

Professionals in early care and education know that it is and that it happens in stages. We don't just leave them to solve it on their own. We guide them through it, gradually reducing the support we provide based on the child's age and developmental level.

Problem-solving is the most essential anti-bully technique we can teach. To begin problem-solving, young children first need to understand their own emotions. Then they can start to learn about others' emotions. Laptime is a simple way to explore these topics with young children.

What is laptime?

Laptime is time spent reading or talking about emotions in close physical contact with your child. It's time spent together, looking at books or magazines, reading and speculating how characters, ourselves, or others in the world might feel.

It's also about facial, body, and language expressions that help us understand what others are experiencing beyond ourselves. It's based on this premise that all feelings are OK, all actions (and words) are not.

Laptime is a time for questioning and wondering about human interaction in the presence of a non-judgmental and trusted person. It's an awesome way to teach kids ages 0-8+ about emotions. And it's information they'll need when talking about bullies. They'll eventually need to be able to "read" people well in the world they'll be growing up in.

Did you know that 30% of families in the United States don’t read to their kids at all?

That's a lot of missed opportunities to teach children about emotions and empathy.

Here's a more detailed look at Bullying if you're interested in learning more.

Thank you for spending your precious time with us today!!

Nanci J Bradley is an early childhood and family educator, author, teacher, SELF-care facilitator, family aerobics instructor, and an all-around fun-loving person. She believes in the power of sleep, healthy eating, lifelong learning, and most of all, PLAY! She studied early childhood ed at Triton College and received her BS in education in 1986 from NIU. She received her MA in human development from Pacific Oaks College in 2011. She lives and teaches in Madison WI.