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Tuesday, 9 September, 2008 2:44 PM
Is Your Child's
Halloween Being Ruined By Bullies?
How
Parents Can Take Preventative Action
Photo
courtesy of www.pumpkingoblin.com
Vancouver,
WA – With Halloween right around the corner, children
all over the nation are choosing "who they want to be"
this year. Batman? Spongebob? Hannah Montana! Whereas this tradition
is one that every child relishes in, social pressures have made
kids think twice about who they want to choose. Will they make fun
of me? Will I be bullied because of my choice?
It seems
even life's simple pleasures such as dressing up on Halloween can
be taken away by the threat of a bully attack. Currently, 30 Percent
of children in the United States are involved in school bullying
according to National Youth Violence Prevention. That is 5.7 million
American children who either are bullies or are picked on at school.
Why has this become such a huge problem?
“We’ve
forgotten to raise our kids with kindness,” says Aaron Taylor,
father and author of the new book Halloween-themed book “The
Pumpkin Goblin Makes Friends” (Greenleaf Publishing, 2008).
Taylor could blame the changing dynamic of the American family or
he could point the finger at the internet for making bullying less
personal. “It doesn’t matter to me why kids pick on
each other,” he says. “I just want to be able to help
stop it.”
Scholastic.com
suggests the budding bully needs as much attention as the child
who is being victimized. The website reports that being the aggressor
as a pre-teen is likely to inhibit positive relationships later
in life. In short, the school bully is just as likely to grow up
traumatized as the victim.
Taylor’s
book “The Pumpkin Goblin Makes Friends” is about a monster
with a child’s heart who is inspired to stop picking on neighborhood
children and to start mending the relationships he had damaged.
"I feel it is very important for children to learn about the
harmful effects of bullying at a young age", says Taylor. "If
we can reach them before they experience it first-hand, our children
will be able to identify and prevent this destructive behavior."
A Columbia
University study finds bullying now starts as young as pre-school
and intensifies as the angry child ages. More girls bully than boys,
but boys tend to be more physical in their attacks. The study goes
on to suggest the reason for bullying is the same as the result
of it: low self esteem and a lack of friends.
“Reaching
kids on their own level is the only way to stop the cycle,”
says Taylor. “I geared this book toward young children to
show them how unhappy the Pumpkin Goblin is when he picks on the
neighborhood children. It isn’t until a little boy befriends
him that the big bully realizes how much nicer it is to have friends
rather than people who are afraid of you. A central message here
is picking on others doesn’t make your pain go away.”
The moral
is to give your children the tools to not be a bully and give them
the ideas of how to make a bully into a friend rather than a rival.
Kindness and respect isn’t just the best thing for the kid
being attacked - it’s the best thing for the bully too. As
this Halloween, it is definitely a treat, rather than a trick.
About Aaron Taylor
Aaron Taylor
is the author of “The Pumpkin Goblin Makes Friends”
and is currently at work on his second children’s book. Taylor
has specialized in the delivery of financial advisory and valuation
services since 1993. Currently he oversees and performs valuation
and cost segregation projects including both real and personal property
components. He currently lives in Vancouver, WA with his wife and
3 children. Taylor launched this book series to be a role model
and inspire his own children to seize their dreams. www.PumpkinGoblin.com
Source:
News and Experts
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