Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

I have read many books on teasing and bullying and this book stands out by far as the best of them! This is a well written book that helps you learn to combat the emotional effects that your child feels when being put down and teased by their peers. The author actually provides you with strategies to help your child cope with and get themselves out of these situations. This book has taught me to understand and help my child and I would highly recommend it! (Thank you to the author, Judy Freedman, who has made a difference in the life of my child.)

This book consists of great definitions, anecdotes, actual experiences of supervisors, teachers, parents, children and "bullies" who bring discomfort, hardship, cruelty and inappropriate behaviors to those whom the bullies encounter. Easing the Teasing offers the reader a multitude of solutions for adults to follow to lessen the hurt which results from the bullies' behavior and atypical behavior in schools, playgrounds, neighborhoods, homes and community settings. As educators, it is essential for us to be aware of teasing and try our very best to discourage bullies and their nasty behaviors. All of the chapters in this book offer the reader suggestions, real life experiences, strategies in empathy and compassion for us to utilize when dealing with bullies in our jobs and guidance. Easing the Teasing is an up-to-date, current, and powerful book, and should be valued as an extremely beneficial resource in every educator's library.

Ray Kandelman, Administrator and Educator

This book should be on the shelf of every educator and every parent.