How to Fight Back if You're the Victim

Being the victim is never an easy thing to handle. Being overpowered by someone who lowers your self esteem makes it hard to stand up for yourself. One thing you don't want to do is give the bully reactions. They're waiting for you to be effected by what do and say; if you remain calm and in control of yourself, you won't give the bully the satisfaction of hurting you.

Or you can employ the HA HA SO Strategies.
H- Help
A victim may not be able to handle the situation alone. They should ask for help from a trusted adult to help them, like their parents, a friends parents, teacher, counselor, neighbor, or who ever else they feel comfortable with.

A- Assert Yourself
When dealing with the bully, the victim should be assertive. Here are some tips about how to be assertive:
-Make eye contact
-Speak firmly
-Directly face the bully. Make your body language assert confidence.
-Have a calm look on your face
-"Use an "I statement." An example of that would be saying, "(Bully's name), I feel _________when you ________. Please_________."" (Stop Bullying Site)

H- Humor
The goal of the bully is to upset you, so if you fire a joke back at him instead of an insult, you'll catch him off guard and leave the bully scratching their head.

A- Avoid
Try your best to stay out of the way of the bully. For example, if you're at recess, play on the other side of the playground than the bully. If you're not near the bully, they won't be able to hurt you.

S- Self Talk
Think positively. Your thoughts have a lot more power over you than you might know. If you keep thinking "Henry's right, I don't have any friends" then you'll begin to feel that way. But the effect also works for positive thoughts too. Think to yourself, "I am loved by my parents, my cousins, my friends, my neighbors, my teachers, etc." and remind yourself of all the people that care about you and love you. You need to be kind to yourself, especially if someone else is being mean.

O- Own it
Sometimes what the bully says to you will be true. If you wear glasses and the bully makes fun of them, you could say "All the better to see you with." (Stop Bullying Site) Since you can't deny you're wearing glasses, be confident and 'own it.'

Check out Stop Bullying to find more ways to stop a bully.

I also found this wonderful website called Bullies to Buddies. They have free materials that aid in all aspects of bullying. One I found most interesting was the page on "How to Stop Being Teased and Bullied Without Really Trying." You can access that page HERE. Through ten lessons you can learn how to stop being the victim and take control of the situation yourself. I encourage everyone to go check this helpful site out.

Got any other ideas on how to reduce being bullied? Let us know in the comments!

Link to the Bullies to Buddies website: http://bullies2buddies.com/