Is Your Child a Loner or Alone?

2. How did it work?

3. What might you do differently next time?

I often ask groups of students what parents or teachers should do to help with social problems like teasing and bullying. They all shout, "Nothing! Stay out of it! You’ll only make things worse!"

However, if I ask the question a little differently, and invite them to think about anything an adult has ever done to help them thorough a difficult social situation, they will often say, "Someone listened to me."
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More: 7 Ways You Can Help a Lonely or Rejected Child

RESOURCES

Best Friends, Worst Enemies, by Michael Thompson, Catherine O’Neill Grace and Lawrence Cohen, Ballantine Books, 2001. Explores children’s social relationships and how to help kids deal with peer problems.

Mom, They’re Teasing Me, Michael Thompson , Lawrence J. Cohen Ph.D., Catherine O'Neill Grace. The range of difficulties children face in social situations, from bullying and name-calling to rejection and socialization is the focus of this primer for parents, with specific tips on how to deal with these issues.