Inside: These must-read Anti-Bullying books will help bully-proof our kids and prevent bullying. This list comes with bully prevention discussion starters to use with your kids.
Sadly, my kids know bullies.
A few years ago, my daughter was surrounded by them at school.
They bullied her because she was different and has special needs.
They bullied her because she was often playing alone at recess.
Related: How Teaching Your Kids to Be Includers Can Help Stop Bullying
And they bullied her because she marched (actually twirled and pranced) to the beat of her own drum.
She was an easy target… low hanging fruit for a group of kids who had a mean streak.
It happened on the playground and in her own classroom right under the teacher’s nose.
She was emotionally bullied, socially bullied and physically bullied.
Related: What is the True Definition of Bullying and Why You Need to Know It
It was devastating for her and for me.
So while we were in it, because the school wasn’t doing anything to stop it, we focused on protecting her emotional well-being.
We gave her techniques to help her avoid the bullies and stand up for herself. And we worked on getting her a group of friends so she wasn’t alone all the time.
Related: Help Bully-Proof Your Kids by Encouraging Them To Find This One Thing
And we now spend a lot of time bully-proofing both my daughter and her siblings.
Want to know how we do it? Grab this Bully-Proof Your Kids ebook:
And one simple way we help bully-proof our kids is we read anti-bullying books and books about celebrating our differences.
And then we talk about bullies. And bullying behavior. And bullying prevention.
Because I want my children to not just survive their childhoods.
I want them to thrive.
Ways to Make the Anti-Bullying Books More Meaningful:
We are on purpose raising our kids to be kind.
To accomplish that, we model kindness, talk about kindness, and praise kindness when we see it.
Related: Must Have Books About Kindness to Raise Kind Kids
And we also teach our kids to stand up against bullying and bullying behaviors.
Related: Teach Your Kids This One Thing to Help End Bullying
So we also read anti-bullying books.
When we read bullying prevention books with kids though, the messages may go right over their heads.
To make sure the concept hits home, we have to talk about the books we read.
We have to keep the conversation about bullying and bullying prevention going.
Because this can’t be a one-time thing.
We can’t talk about bullies with our kids only once.
We have to repeatedly talk about it, ask about it, and check in.
Not sure how to talk to your kids about bullying? Start with our Bullying Prevention Discussion Starters. (download below)
Anti-Bullying Books
Another simple way to talk about bullies and bullying behavior is to read anti-bullying books together.
Books have this way of helping us connect and our kids may be more likely to open up about things they normally may not have been up for discussing around the dinner table.
Here are a few bully prevention books that are great:
One (one of my absolute favorite books!)
Berenstein Bears and The Bully
The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade
Stand Up For Friends and Yourself
The No More Bullying Book for Kids
Save Me a Seat – SOOOO Good!
Celebrating our Differences and Being Yourself Books
We are all different.
And not only is that okay, it’s beautiful.
Our differences should be celebrated. But many kids want to fit in and “hide” their differences to blend in with peers and fly under the radar.
Especially if there are bullying behaviors they’re trying to avoid.
Because bullies often target and focus on kids who are different or appear to be different.
So to combat that, we have to help our kids celebrate their differences.
Celebrate what makes them unique and special.
Because when we not only tolerate kids who are different than us, but we accept them for who they are and enjoy those differences, we make the world a better place.
A place where everyone is welcome and included and invited.
And that will start to change our culture away from one that allows our differences to be exploited and targeted.
Here are a few books that celebrate differences and empower us to be ourselves.
Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match
Ernest Davison says
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