There is the the bully and the victim but the unspoken person involved is the parent or guardian. The person who has to go to all the meetings or wipe away all the tears. The person who feels like the helpless advocate that never wanted their child to be anything but happy. We send our children out into the world wanting them to grow and learn while becoming social butterflies amongst their peers. We never expect them to be a target or a tormentor. We expect them to be able to be kids, to enjoy swings and laugh loudly at silly things.

The reality is, so many children are committing self-harm and suicide because the harm of bullying. So many bullies go unpunished because they hide behind their computers or innocent faces. They hide behind the idea that children just can’t be that cruel. Children learn and are a reflection of the things they see and experience. We are losing our children to the idea that trolling is fun and acceptable. We are losing our children to the words of people that do not even know them.

We, as parents, need to stop feeling the helplessness and take back the power of teaching our children how to be children. We need to pay attention to how they behave towards the people inside the home and stop believing that it isn’t our child. It can be your child, who has become a bully because they have been bullied. It can be your child who is hurting and just won’t open up to you because they see how stressed and tired you already are.

As a parent, I want my children to feel comfortable in their own skin and even when faced with a bullying situation they will know I will be there to help them.

As a parent, what do you view for your children?