Lake County families find solution to bullying from surprising source

NORTH CHICAGO -- When their 9-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son came home from their North Chicago school with stories of getting bullied, Jordan and Dana were very upset.

“It breaks your heart to hear that your kids are getting picked on or bullied,” Jordan said. “You want to help them and protect them, and you want them to be equipped if it happens again.”

As millions of children head back to school this year, more than one in five of them could face a similar experience, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. And in a national study by the Cyberbullying Research Center, nearly 21% of tweens said they had been a target, aggressor or witness to bullying online or by other electronic means.

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.

Jordan and Dana talked with their children about helpful scriptural principles they learned through their faith as Jehovah’s Witnesses. “Parents need resources when they’re dealing with stuff like this,” Dana said. “It’s nice to have timely resources from the best source of advice, which is God’s Word, the Bible. These principles — diffusing a situation, not engaging — are something that can help everybody and that help our children to be good people, to be kind and loving.”

They also went to jw.org, the Witnesses’ official website, where a search for the term bullying 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, “Beat a Bully Without Using Your Fists” and an animated cartoon about the powerful effect of prayer for those who are being bullied.

Jordan and Dana’s son especially enjoyed the video “Beat a Bully Without Using Your Fists.”

“A piece of good advice is how you should tell people that the bullying happened. Another is how to diffuse a situation. It’s helped me a lot with bullying,” he said. “I also remember the scripture, ‘Return evil for evil to no one,’ so you shouldn’t bully another person just because you’re being bullied.”

Their daughter appreciated the lessons about prayer in the animated video that showed an example of a young girl being bullied at school. “I pray to God and ignore the person who is bullying me. Prayer helps me to be confident,” she said.

Madison Bechtle of Clifton, New Jersey, also turned to the Scriptures when a cyberbully started harassing her in the eighth grade with dozens of disturbing notifications on her cell phone. “It was really crazy. He was sending me pictures of my house. I was really paranoid all the time,” she said.

Reading the Bible and praying calmed her anxiety. “It’s just you and God, and you’re just talking one-on-one,” she said. “It’s very comforting, and it works.”

She also followed the practical steps outlined in the jw.org whiteboard animation “Be Social-Network Smart” to protect herself. She told her parents and teachers about the situation and deleted the social media account her bully had targeted. “I still don’t have that account to this day,” said Madison, now 21.

“Not every situation resolves so easily. But applying the Bible’s advice and focusing on the big picture can help individuals cope and maintain their sense of self-worth,” said Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“The Bible has proven to be a practical resource for many families to navigate difficult situations in life,” Hendriks said. “The principles found in this ancient book can help adults and children resolve conflict and maintain peaceful relationships with others.”

Bible principles, like the so-called Golden Rule of treating others as you want to be treated, showing love and being slow to anger are tools Jordan said help his family. “Principles found in God’s Word don’t change; they always apply. They apply to us in our situation today.”