Bully Blocking: Six Secrets to Help Children Deal with Teasing and Bullying

This confidence-boosting book aims to help children overcome the damaging effects of teasing and bullying, and to develop practical skills and attitudes to improve their self-esteem and quality of life. This revised edition of Bully Blocking (originally published under the title Bully Busting) is based on Evelyn Field's 'Secrets of relating', a six-step model that has proved highly successful in her counselling work with young people. The first part of the book helps parents understand what happens when their children are bullied and provides useful approaches for changing the attitude of children who may feel there is no hope. The second part provides a programme of activities with an emphasis on fun, helping children to understand their feelings and develop effective methods of counteracting bullying situations, including improving self-esteem, building support networks and communicating confidently. This book will be an invaluable resource for parents, teachers, educators and counsellors working with children at risk of or experiencing bullying.

Table of Contents:
Dedication. Introduction. Part One - Understanding Bullying. 1. Bullying - an overview. 2. Bullies and targets. 3. What causes bullying? 4. The damage done. Part Two -Taking action. 5.First, transform your child's attitudes 6. How parents can help. 7. What schools can do Part Three - The Six Secrets of Relating. 8. Regulate your feelings - secret 1. 9. Understand why you are bullied or a bully - Secret 2. 10. Build your self-esteem - Secret 3. 11. Become a confident communicator - Secret 4. 12. Create your own `power pack' - Secret 5. 13. Develop a support network - Secret 6. Teachers' supplement. Author's notes. Acknowledgements. Resources. Index.

About the Author :
Evelyn Field is a counselling psychologist in Melbourne who has worked with children and adults since the 1970s. As a former school-based psychologist she has worked extensively with young people who are being teased, bullied or victimised. Evelyn has developed a simple six-step model to help them deal with the consequences of bullying and acquire techniques to protect themselves for the future.

Review :
The books succeeds in reaching its intended audience. It is written in a lighthearted manner and illustrated in a complementary style. Consequently, its accessible and positive approach would help readers to facilitate change. Advance praise for this book 'This book by Australian psychologist Evelyn Field will be of use to every parent, child and professional, neatly uniting first-rate information with practical help.' The title "Bully Blocking" doesn't' do this book justice - it's not just bullying, it's about becoming a first-class assertive, confident and emotionally aware citizen! Written with obvious compassion and experience, this book acknowledges the subtleties of coping with bullying. Evelyn M. Field is a dedicated professional with years of practical experience who understands that children need simple skills, parents need practical advice and schools need basic frameworks. Her six secrets of relating provide a simple model which can empower the child to confront a bully, block their nasty behaviors and rebuild their own power. It is an easy-to-read, down-to-earth book. Read it and reap!. Bully Blocking contains many imaginative suggestions for parents and children on how to cope with the problem of being victimised by their peers at school. Evelyn Field's thoughtful and beautifully written book is both timely and needed, providing young people and their carers with a variety of skills, knowledge and strategies to counter the problem of bullying and teasing. The illustrations and activity pages ensure the user-friendliness of the book for young people. Bully Blocking is a "must read" for parents who want to give their children the gift of a range of social and emotional competencies to help them traverse the sometimes rocky terrain of the schoolyard and beyond. Evelyn Field has drawn on her vast clinical experience over many years of working with children, their families and teachers to write a superb book about all aspects of bullying. Beginning with descriptions of different types of bullying, Field goes on to list the manifestations and consequences of bullying, and devotes the rest of the book to information and practical exercises as to what parents, teachers (and children, too) can do. It is written in a style that is interesting, very practical and easy to read. Bully Blocking is an invaluable resource for children, parents, teachers and all professionals working with children who are aware of the often-devastating consequences of bullying that is allowed to go unchecked. Parents of today's children see no place for bullying. They also are seeking a strong partnership with schools to ensure all children are happy and safe at school. In Bully Blocking, Evelyn Field provides parents with a most practical and easy-to-read road map into the future without bullying. Parents who unfold Evelyn's road map will find support and confidence to make that journey successful for their children and their school communities. This is a book packed with practical ideas for parents and children to use in understanding and addressing bullying. Evelyn writes with confidence and clarity, and I like her light-hearted presentation. Few of the books available on bullying target both the parent and the child readership - Bully Blocking does. It is easy to read, and the extensive information is presented in an attractive format. This book will be an invaluable resource for parents, teachers, educators and counsellors working with children at risk of or experiencing bullying.