Unfortunately bullying has become a big problem for teenagers, thanks to the proliferation of social media – a lot of bullying these days is on social media. Teenagers are particularly sensitive to what their peers think of them and try to avoid being the focus of a group attack on their identity.

In order to help the recipient overcome the bullying, the tutor has to build up his pupil’s confidence; confident, mature teenagers do not get bullied. A successful university student brings an outside perspective on the situation that the family and school cannot. By spending time with the tutor, the pupil begins to see the bullies for what they are.

There are many ways that a tutor can do this, but the best way is to help him get good at something; the easiest is some sport and squash is a very good means, as, unlike tennis, anyone can play squash to a reasonable standard – it does not require any natural ability. 

Our tutors use squash to great effect to build up their pupils’ confidence; once the pupil sees his improvement it gives him confidence and as he improves he gains more and more confidence in himself to the point where he tells his tutor that he is going to face-off any bullies in the future by being impervious to their tactics. In the same way that thieves do not prey on people who look confident, bullies do not dare touch confident contemporaries because they don't see confident people as likely victims. 

Needless to say, an hourly tutor has no hope of achieving this; only by living with a pupil full-time can a tutor instil a new feeling of confidence in a child, by spending a great deal of time with him and getting to know him very well.

Read more about a teen's struggle with bullies in our Tutor Talks.