Reviews of How to Stop Bullying Positive Steps to Protect Children in Your Care

Jill Curtis, Senior Psychotherapist

'Márianna Csóti has done it again - this time putting a timely spotlight on all aspects of bullying. This book should be required reading for parents, teachers, and victims of bullying.'
 

Cathy Mercer, The National Autistic Society

'Bullying is the commonest worry on calls to the National Autistic Society (NAS) Autism Helpline. The NAS therefore welcomes this very reasonably priced book which offers sensible and helpful advice on tackling bullying at its root causes and supporting the victims of
bullying.'

Judith Colley SEN Teaching Assistant

'One of the best all round books on bullying I've read. Clear cut and easy reading. Covering all aspects, it actually gives strategies to prevent and deal with being bullied.

'Chapter three deals with "whole school" approach in depth. Showing what a united front must be to protect children in your care. Good practice mentioned in this chapter includes older children being trained for peer support. The idea of wearing a badge to identify themselves is something which I will try out in our school. This should encourage victims to come forward and off load to a sympathetic older child.

'Working with ASD children myself, I was particularly interested in this section and the ideas it has to offer.

'Anyone in contact with children, from parents to lunchtime staff, would find this book more than useful. It should be kept in a central position in school and referred to when the need arises.

'Altogether an excellent resource to have offering great value for money.'

 Amazon review: Jennifer Smith (London)
Worth every penny and more. Love this book!, 21 Dec 2008
 

I personally believe that every child is special and often their behavior is as a result of environmental conditioning, including peer pressure and parental identification. The mind is a wonderful thing, and its ability to rationalise is how it ensures the survival of the human body it inhabits. In other words, I believe that nobody is born evil- and contradictory as it may sound- that it is frequently in the research for love and appreciation that humans take the highway towards it. If the human soul could be validated any other way, the evil road is one it would never even consider. And bullying is evil by its very nature. Yet, the bully is not, by virtue of the soul within it.

That's why I like the approach of this book. The author's keenness to protect the victim is only matched by her determination to eradicate the ill from the bully, by fundamentally changing his/her mindset in a lasting way.

Another element of the book I really like is the detailed advice on how to develop assertiveness in a child, along with anger management and very essentially, negotiation skills. The reality remains that children prepare for the outside world, through the skills taught them at home. Unfortunately there are no failsafe all-embracing parenting manuals that give parents/carers a step-by-step guide on handling every detail of experience with their child, to guarantee the child develops into a positive, inspiring, hero. But there are books, such as this that give detailed advice on HOW to guarantee the child is positioned with the right mental mindset, to ensure its place in society, through a behavioral combination of empathy, strength and the ability to inspire trust.

A very good read. And very practical. I loved it.