Watching your child suffer is never easy, especially when it's impart to bullying-- a problem that seems to be growing at a rampant pace lately. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has even launched a new program called Stop Bullying Now, a campaign for parents to learn all about bullying and what they can do to stop it. They've even created cartoons and games to help children get involved and take a stand.

We all know that from a psychological standpoint, the effects of bullying can be detrimental to a young one emotionally. Certainly, the same goes for a child who's finding themselves acting out as a bully or provoker-- What is triggering these youngsters to use aggression in innappropriate ways to their classmates? Is their disturbing behavior caused by what they see at home? Or is it a piece of a genetic puzzle-- a combative nature that they were just born with?

Today, Parents Ask experts Dr. Bonnie Zucker, Psy.D, Foster Cline, MD, and parenting expert and author Betsy Brown Braun, share their tips on ways parents can handle the bullying epidemic:

#VIDEO

Here's the breakdown:

Bonnie Zucker- "View the bully empathetically"

While it's easy to get angry and blame the bully, the bully has to be viewed empathically and it needs to be understood that he or she suffers as well.

-Identify the possible causes, such as if your child is repeatedly teased by an older sibling or low self-esteem.

-Identify the triggers to the bullying behavior (situation, with others or alone, when angry, etc)

-Discipline your child with appropriate consequences, and most importantly, communication re: why this behavior is wrong, etc. Teach your child empathy and perspective-taking.

-Have a meeting with the bullied child(ren) and their parents and discuss the problem together.

Close: Professional intervention is often needed, and this could include attending a social skills group.

Foster Cline- "Propensity for agression is present in some children at birth."

Generally it is best to help our children become stronger, develop coping skills and respond to bullying effectively themselves. If the child is being psychologically damaged, or can't handle the bullying after being given communication and coping skills parents need to step in.

Tips for a child being bullied:

-Give verbal aggression back lightly (Peter Pan in HOOK shows this very well).

-Talk to the authorities themselves.

-Parents always need to get their child's ideas on what they might do that would be most effective. Sometimes parents can step in and make the whole thing worse!

Betsy Brown Braun-"Bullying behavior emerges in Elementary School- Not Nursery School!"

Parents need to know the difference between bullying and teasing. It is not a new problem, however. It is teasing run wild. Teasing is not harmful; bullying is. The main difference is that bullying persists over time, a person is picked on over and over by an individual or a group with more power, either in terms of physical strength or social standing. The most powerful part of bullying is that it is relentless.  Nursery schoolers are not typically bullies or bullied…though parents think they are. Bullying behaviors emerge in elementary school and can persist into middle school.

Tips on Preventing Bullying:

-Has to be really good communication between parents and school (teachers)

-Speak to the teacher/yard teacher to find out what is going on (perhaps there is an issue with the bully);    make sure there is adequate supervision if it is going on at school.

-Find out what the clear consequences are for the bullies…and how everyone is made aware of these

-Find out if there is or create a social context in which the child feels protected and in which bullying is not tolerated.