{"id":6517,"date":"2022-11-26T10:08:07","date_gmt":"2022-11-26T07:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/?p=6517"},"modified":"2022-11-26T10:08:07","modified_gmt":"2022-11-26T07:08:07","slug":"largo-families-find-solutions-to-bullying-from-a-surprising-source","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/largo-families-find-solutions-to-bullying-from-a-surprising-source\/","title":{"rendered":"Largo families find solutions to bullying from a surprising source"},"content":{"rendered":"

The bell rang, signaling the end of another school day in Largo for Jarrod and Gabriella\u2019s 8-year-old son. Instead of leaving school feeling happy, their third grader came home sad and embarrassed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
As parents search for ways to protect their children, a growing group of families are turning to an unlikely source for practical guidance: the Bible.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the worst feeling in the world,\u201d Jarrod said. Their son was being bullied.<\/p>\n

More than one in five children have a similar experience, according to the\u00a0National Center for Education Statistics<\/a>.\u00a0<\/u>And in a national study by the\u00a0Cyberbullying Research Center<\/a>, nearly 21 percent of tweens said they had been a target, aggressor or witness to bullying online or by other electronic means.<\/p>\n

As parents search for ways to protect their children, a growing group of families are turning to an unlikely source for practical guidance: the Bible.<\/p>\n

Jarrod and Gabriella talked with their son about helpful scriptural principles they learned through their faith as Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses. \u201cBible principles can help all ages and in many aspects of life, including getting through school,\u201d said Jarrod. \u201cThe author of the Bible knows how to best help us. Applying Bible principles have been vital to helping our children in school,\u201d Gabriella added.<\/p>\n

They also went to\u00a0jw.org<\/a>, the Witnesses\u2019 official website, where a search for the term \u201cbullying\u201d brought up a wealth of free resources, including videos, articles, worksheets and other online activities on topics young people face at school. Those resources include a whiteboard animation entitled \u201cBeat a Bully Without Using Your Fists<\/a>\u201d and an\u00a0animated cartoon about the powerful effect of prayer<\/a>\u00a0for those who are being bullied.<\/p>\n

\u201cPraying about it and watching some videos on jw.org made me feel better,\u201d said Jarrod and Gabriella\u2019s young son. Despite being mocked and made fun of by his classmates, he decided to try and win them over with kindness.<\/p>\n

Madison Bechtle of Clifton, N. J., also turned to the Scriptures when a cyberbully started harassing her in the eighth grade with dozens of disturbing notifications on her cell phone. \u201cIt was really crazy. He was sending me pictures of my house. I was really paranoid all the time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Reading the Bible and praying calmed her anxiety. \u201cIt\u2019s just you and God, and you\u2019re just talking one-on-one,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s very comforting, and it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also followed the practical steps outlined in the jw.org whiteboard animation \u201cBe Social-Network Smart<\/a>\u201d to protect herself. She told her parents and teachers about the situation and deleted the social media account her bully had targeted. \u201cI still don\u2019t have that account to this day,\u201d said Madison, now 21.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot every situation resolves so easily. But applying the Bible\u2019s advice and focusing on the big picture can help individuals cope and maintain their sense of self-worth,\u201d said Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesperson for Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bible has proven to be a practical resource for many families to navigate difficult situations in life,\u201d said Hendriks. \u201cThe principles found in this ancient book can help adults and children resolve conflict and maintain peaceful relationships with others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Principles like the so-called Golden Rule of treating others as you\u2019d want to be treated, showing love and being slow to anger are tools that help Jarrod and Gabriella\u2019s family in many circumstances. \u201cI think that\u2019s the best way to live and to get through school,\u201d their son said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The bell rang, signaling the end of another school day in Largo for Jarrod and Gabriella\u2019s 8-year-old son. Instead of leaving school feeling happy, their third grader came home sad and embarrassed. \u201cIt\u2019s the worst…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inside-jw-org"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6517"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6519,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6517\/revisions\/6519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}