Bullying is the use of force, coercion, or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imbalance of physical or social power. This imbalance distinguishes bullying from conflict.

Offers parents advice on raising confident children who will be resilient in the face of a bully, featuring strategies for building a family culture that prohibits bullying and for boosting children's self-respect and self-esteem.

Mocking. Namecalling. Physical aggression. These experiences are all forms of bullying that can wreak havoc on a childÆs self-esteem, safety, and general happiness. Both parents of bullied children and parents of bullies and are in a difficult situation: They want to protect their children and control their behavior without making the problem worse. Parents need a comprehensive, up-to-date guide to ensure that their childrenÆs education and quality of life are not compromised. This book helps parents learn to: Recognize the signs of bullying Find out where bullying is taking placeùat school, at a friendÆs house, or on the Internet Understand the differences between bullying among boys and girls Teach social skills and assertiveness techniques Communicate with the parents of bullies Get support from teachers, counselors, and other school administrators Handle bullying situations involving children with special needs Written by Deborah Carpenter, a social worker and assistant principal, this guide gives parents all the tools they need to recognize the problem, treat it properly, and prevent it from happening again.

The numerous anti-bullying programs in schools across the United States have done little to reduce the number of reported bullying instances. One reason for this is that little attention has been paid to the role of the media and popular culture in adolescents' bullying and mean-girl behavior. This book addresses media role models in television, film, picture books, and the Internet in the realm of bullying and relational aggression. It highlights portrayals with unproductive strategies that lead to poor resolutions or no resolution at all. Young viewers may learn ineffective, even dangerous, ways of handling aggressive situations. Victims may feel discouraged when they are unable to handle the situation as easily as in media portrayals. They may also feel their experiences are trivialized by comic portrayals. Entertainment programming, aimed particularly at adolescents, often portray adults as incompetent or uncaring and include mean-spirited teasing. In addition, overuse of the term "bully" and defining all bad behavior as "bullying" may dilute the term and trivialize the problem.