How Can You Identify and Address Bullying in Your Daycare Centre in Macquarie Park?
Do you think that young kids in daycare centres can be bullies? Due to the young age of the kids in daycares, most daycares in Macquarie Park overlook bullying in their facilities. However, this may be happening under your nose and may affect the emotional, psychological and social development of the kids who are involved in bullying. Though the bullying itself may not be exclusionary or aggressive at this age, when it emerges, you have to do all you can to stop it. This article will help you identify how you can identify bullying and address it in your daycare.
Ways You Can Identify Bullying in Your Daycare Centre in Macquarie Park
Unlike with older kids, bullying in younger kids manifests in different ways. Though bullying is still bad, at this age, it is better than in the older kids since it is not aggressive. Some of the forms of bullying that you may encounter with the kids in your daycare may include pushing, grabbing toys from peers, hitting, teasing, name-calling, yelling, exclusion and coercing other kids to harm or exclude other kids. When you identify any of the above forms of bullying, you must ensure you understand the root cause of these behaviours and address them appropriately.
Tips for Addressing Bullying in Your Daycare Centre in Macquarie Park
When kids are left under your care, you have to make sure that they are safe at all times. This means that if you realise that there is any form of bullying in your daycare, you have to stop it. The following are some of the tips that you can make use of if you want to address bullying in your daycare in Macquarie Park;
- Immediate intervention
You may sometimes observe the kids bullying while playing or in group activities. When this is observed, you have to make sure that you intervene immediately but very calmly. This can be done by separating the kids involved, which deescalates the issue; after doing this, ensure that you tell the kids why bullying is unacceptable using simple, understandable and age-appropriate language. Avoid shaming these children or punishing them harshly since this may encourage the behaviour in the future. However, when you teach them how to interact with each other appropriately, you will help them change their behaviour.
- Focus on teaching empathy
At times, the environment in which children are raised denies them the chance to become empathetic when they are young. However, empathy is essential when it comes to kids’ interactions. For this reason, when you realise that there is bullying in your daycare, ensure that you focus on teaching empathy to address the issue.
- Teach kids to express and regulate their emotions
Kids also lack tools to help them when it comes to expressing and regulating their emotions. Due to this reason, bullying behaviours may develop at an early age as kids try to express their feelings in their own ways. However, this is not the right way for the kids to express and regulate their emotions since it may cause harm to other kids. This is why you must ensure that you teach the kids in your daycare how to express and regulate their emotions appropriately. This way, they will use words to express their emotions and feelings rather than being physical with other kids in the daycare.
- Foster a positive environment in your daycare
You must also prioritise mutual respect and inclusivity in your daycare. This way, the kids in the facility will know what is expected of them regarding their behaviour. Also, they will learn how to relate with other kids, and the positive environment will discourage negative behaviours like bullying.
You can find out more about how we can manage kids and bullying when you check https://360earlyeducation.com.au/locations/macquarie-park/.
