'My Daughter is Being Bullied. How Can I Help?'

Bullying in school has to be taken seriously by the school and parents.
If possible, take the help of teachers, peers and counsellors in the school to counsel the (bullying) child.
Also try to help your child to develop self-confidence and deal with this confidently, suggests rediffGURU Aruna Agarwal. 

• You can post your questions for rediffGURU Aruna Agarwal HERE.

Is your child struggling with his studies?

Is s/he being bullied by friends and feeling isolated by peers?

How do you criticise your kids without hurting them?

rediffGURU Aruna Agarwal, a child psychologist and behaviour therapist with over 20 years of experience, offers solutions to parenting problems.

She focuses on children between the ages of two to 10 years who face challenges related to behaviour, language development or attention issues and helps provide them with the right life skills.

• You can post your questions for rediffGURU Aruna Agarwal HERE.
  
  

C: I'm a 53-year-old father. My son is 17 yrs, I'm very disciplined and expect the same from him.
He is not neat.
I keep telling him to eat properly and sit erect. But he hardly listens.
He is mostly interested in playing with the phone.
Sometimes I lose my temper and scold him.
In the flow I criticise him.
Please suggest how to correct him without hurting him. Am I wrong?

Reprimanding your child is not going to help you get his behaviour changed.

Start telling him about what you appreciate in him and ignore what you do not like for some time.

The things we can give attention to can get reinforced in this way.

Sunny: I am not getting any interest in my studies. What should I do?

Understand what it is that you are not getting interested in.

Is it due to a lack of knowledge of the subject or, generally, do you have more distractions?

Once you figure it out, you should be able to deal with this accordingly.

Anonymous: I am writing to express my concerns about my daughter, who is 10 years old.
Over the past six months, she has been experiencing difficulties at school due to bullying from one of her classmates.
This classmate has been isolating her from her other friends and has been making her feel uncomfortable.
Consequently, her grades have started to decline and she has been expressing a reluctance to attend school.
My daughter has confided in me about this issue and she is desperate to distance herself from this classmate. However, she is feeling scared and lacks the confidence to do so.
Additionally, I have observed changes in her behaviour at home.
She has become more irritable, moody and adamant.
I believe this may be due to feelings of being neglected in comparison to her younger brother who is three years old.
While she loves her brother dearly, she sometimes feels that I give him more attention due to his age.
As a parent, I am trying my best to support and reassure her but I feel that I may not be providing enough help.
I am seeking your guidance and assistance in addressing these issues and helping my daughter navigate through this challenging time.

Bullying in school has to be taken seriously by the school and parents.

I am glad that you are trying to provide her with the strength to deal with this.

Try to understand the other child as well.

If possible, take the help of teachers, peers and counsellors in the school to counsel the child.

Meanwhile, try to help your child to develop self-confidence and deal with this confidently.

Make your child have strong self-belief so that she will have better self-esteem.

• You can post your questions for rediffGURU Aruna Agarwal HERE.

Disclaimer: All content and media herein is written and published online for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice. It should not be relied on as your only source of advice.

Please always seek the guidance of your doctor or a qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition. Do not ever disregard the advice of a medical professional, or delay in seeking it because of something you have read herein.

If you believe you may have a medical or mental health emergency, please call your doctor, go to the nearest hospital, or call emergency services or emergency helplines immediately. If you choose to rely on any information provided herein, you do so solely at your own risk.

Opinions expressed herein cannot necessarily provide advice to fit the exact specifics of the issues of the person requesting advice.