Children need to be clever when it comes to tricky people and shutting down insults. They can’t avoid the children who are mean to them and call them names. What they can do is respond in a sassy way that is going to work for them.
They can use the ‘one-liner’. A one-liner can be something like, ‘That’s your opinion’ or ‘Thanks for letting me’. They are very short sentences that are not offensive, not rude and if they are said in a friendly and kind way will not upset the other person. Most children would want to upset the other person and ‘get them back’ but we know that two wrongs don’t make a right and it is not the right way to behave even if they are mean.
Shutting Down Insults
I love a one-liner as it stops the other child in their tracks and they have no idea what to say next. Well, they can just continue to be rude to that child but, if the child keeps on coming back to them with the same response, they are soon going to get bored. Especially if the child does not show that they are bothered about the mean words and are unaffected by the insults.
We should be teaching children that we should only care about what our friends say to us and not care about what the people who are not our friends say to us. Their opinion should not matter in the slightest. So let’s get children using some clever one-liners and showing that others’ mean words will not touch their feelings and their self-esteem. Their words are irrelevant!
If your child is battling a tricky friendship please do get in touch with me or grab a copy of The Parent’s Toolkit as there are some good strategies in there.
