According to various studies, bullying behavior starts right from home. This may sound strange, but your kid may be involved in domestic bullying. Most of the times, the elder child, or the one who is physically powerful aggressively asserts his dominance and authority on the younger and weaker siblings. Parents often turn a blind eye to this, thinking it’s just sibling rivalry, which it mostly isn’t. Follow this guide to identifying a bully at your home and learn how to react to the situation.

Watch for Signs of Domestic Bullying

You may be busy protecting the kid from the outer world when he may be getting bullied right in his own room. Domestic bullying is on the rise, which is why you must keep an eye on your kids while at home. Almost all kids tease their siblings for fun, but sometimes it’s more than fun. If any of your kids is consistently showing violent behavior, then you must intervene. Victims of domestic bullying lose appetite, feel shy talking in front of all family members, and they mostly try to spend their time alone in their room. If any of your kids is showing these signs, then you must get to the root of the problem. Talk to your kid when he is alone and encourage him to share his problems.

Confront the Bully

Monitor your kids and keep your eyes and ears open at all times to detect and confront the problem child. For instance, if you see your elder kid teasing his siblings, then step in immediately. Keep your tone normal, but be sure to express your displeasure and intolerance for such kind of behavior with anyone, be it a sibling or someone else. Repeat this every time he tries to harass his siblings. Going further, you can cut his pocket money, ground him for a few days, or make your disappointment with his behavior and attitude evident through your body language, tone and actions. You may talk to the bullying kid in person just to make him realize his mistake. Tell him that it is your house and that you love all your kids, but you won’t tolerate this behavior anymore. If nothing works, then take him to the therapist to find the root cause of this behavior.

Defuse the Tension

If you are feeling that the environment of your home is becoming a bit heated up, then arrange a small family get together just to give everyone a chance to reconnect with each other. Events like these are very important to defuse the tension and increase the bonding. Be sure to let the bullying child know that you’ve got your sights on him and that if you notice a positive change in him, you’ll reward him. There’s absolutely no harm in giving kids an incentive to behave nicely.