Easing the Teasing : Helping Your Child Cope with Name-Calling, Ridicule, and Verbal Bullying [Paperback]

Judy S. Freedman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 24, 2002

Empowers young children with vital coping skills to help them manage teasing

Easing the Teasing is a crucial reference for parents and educators who want to help teasing victims acquire the coping skills necessary to manage these painful incidents. Easing the Teasing provides elementary and junior high school kids with a repertoire of strategies to deflect and discourage teasing--including positive self-talk; ignoring; visualization; reframing the tease; complimenting or agreeing with the teaser; using humor; simply saying, "So?"; and asking adults for help.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Finally, the tools you need to help your child learn to cope with painful teasing

Traditionally, teasing was viewed as a rite of passage, something to ignore until (you hope) it just went away on its own. But teasing can have damaging and lasting effects on your child, including low self-esteem, chronic stress, anxiety, dislike of school, or even aggressive behavior. Children need concrete ways to cope with teasers and the emotional turmoil teasing can cause. In Easing the Teasing, Judy Freedman draws from seventeen years of experience as a social worker in a suburban Chicago school system. Her groundbreaking program successfully teaches children and parents how to effectively deal with teasing and develop life-long coping skills. Here you will learn:

• The roots of teasing and why some children engage in this behavior
• How to talk to your child to find out why he or she is being teased
• The ten strategies for dealing with teasers that really work, including self-talk, ignoring, visualization, reframing the tease, disarming the teaser with a compliment, and using humor to lighten up the situation
• How you can work with the school and teachers to combat teasing
• How to help your child form healthy friendships and foster empathy and mutual support

Full of reassuring advice and real-life success stories from children and parents, Easing the Teasing shows parents how to give their children the confidence and self-esteem they need to put an end to teasing.

About the Author

Judy Freedman, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., is a school social worker who offers her successful Easing the Teasing® program in presentations and workshops to parents, teachers, and other educational professionals. She has been featured in the Chicago Tribune as well as in other publications and has appeared on NBC and other national media to comment on school violence.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (June 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071381759
• ISBN-13: 978-0071381758
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,888 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My child is no longer teased! Thanks for the techniques!, July 14, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Easing the Teasing : Helping Your Child Cope with Name-Calling, Ridicule, and Verbal Bullying (Paperback)

This is truly the best book about grade school teasing on the market! I didn't know what to do and my 8-year-old daughter didn't want to go to school anymore. She is a very sweet capable child. However, she has a wandering eye that often looks cross-eyed. She wears very thick glasses and is a bit shy. First she no longer wanted to ride the bus because of 2 kids that continued to call her "buggy bug eyes" and other mean things. So, I began driving her to school because the name calling was breaking my heart. Then after 2 weeks, she began to cry that she no longer wanted to go to lunch or out to recess and I didn't know what to do. The social worker was working with the teacher to discipline the teasers, but the behavior was still going on. The parent library at my school had a copy of "Easing the Teasing" and I read it and worked with my daughter. We practiced responses that she felt she could tell the teasers. She actually enjoyed these role playing rehearsals at home with me. And, after 10 days, she was ready to go on the bus and try them out. Her favorite calm responses were "Really?" or "So?" which really caught the boys off guard. Her reply communicated to the teasers that the put-down really didn't matter or bother her. It's like shrugging your shoulders. Two days later on the playground she responded confidently to the taunts with "Do they look like grasshopper eyes or bumblebee eyes today?" That moment was the end of being called " buggy bug eyes"! Although my child is quite shy, with enough practice and "self talk", she was able to do this and proud of herself that she solved the problem. Thanks Judy for a superb book! I'm sure this will help so many children successfully put an end to the cruel teasing while enabling them to nurture their own self-esteem at the same time.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kid-Tested Techniques Really Work!, September 12, 2007

By 

Doria Martuzzo - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Easing the Teasing : Helping Your Child Cope with Name-Calling, Ridicule, and Verbal Bullying (Paperback)

As a bullying prevention educator, I speak to thousands of students each year, and I haven't read a better book about teasing. Some books on the topic are so overly academic that they lose the reader. Ms. Freedman's personable, down-to-earth style immediately draws you in. After reading a chapter, you feel like you've actually spent time with the author, hearing first-hand accounts and real-life success stories that offer hope and inspiration. Ms. Freedman not only shares innovative, kid-tested coping skills, but she explains how, when, and where to use each strategy. Insightful touches like "The Teasing Top Ten" (gleaned directly from kids) as well as "Success Stories" (what has worked straight from the mouth of babes), further help this book stand out from the rest. The thank you letters and drawings I've received from children, parents and educators since I've started including the techniques in my presentations serve as a testament to the value of Easing the Teasing.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for every educator and parent!, November 9, 2008

By 

Dana Lehman "Award winning author" (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Easing the Teasing : Helping Your Child Cope with Name-Calling, Ridicule, and Verbal Bullying (Paperback)

I have read Easing the Teasing once, but plan on reading it again. I am amazed at how easy the techniques are to follow. I found myself thinking...why didn't I think of that? I do school presentations for early elementary school children, and the strategies in Easing the Teasing are extremly helpful. I always recommend this book to teachers and parents. Mrs. Freedman has a strategy for every teasing situation that you can imagine. She has given us a fabulous tool to teach children how to cope with teasing.