Empowering Our Kids to Stand Against Body Shaming
By Lindsay Jordan, LCSW
Sadly, I have been hearing of fat shaming and bullying in our school halls (and classrooms) so would like to recommend Dr. Lisa Damour's podcast, Ask Lisa, episode 216. Hear are some main points that I ask for you to discuss with each of your children (at minute 22 in the podcast):
If your child witnesses bullying of any kind... if they are standing there when one kid goes after another kid and there is a power imbalance, you can NOT do nothing... you have to do 1 for 3 things...
Tell the kid who is doing it to Knock it off. (there is a great video about teaching kids to turn it back on the bully with flattery about how great they are (BrooksGibbs.com How to Stop a Bully)... or ask "what's going on for you that you've turned into this ... I've seen you nicer than this")
Reach out and support the kid on the receiving end
Get an adult
You don't need to do all 3 but you need to do at least 1!!! Again, doing nothing is not an option.
***It is wrong to criticize (even in a joking manner) somebody for anything related to size, shape, appearance, skin color, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender. Any identity based or size/shape factor that is used as an insult is wrong!***
Please also consider this as a fresh reminder to not talk about your weight in front of your children. It models unkindness to our bodies.
Fat shaming is going on in school (and on social media). We need to talk about it. It needs to be stopped before more harm is done.
Start a conversation with your kids... ask them if they've been seeing/hearing bullying... and go from there. Be curious and compassionate.