What to do when kids are mean?

About this episode

The episode discusses how parents can effectively respond to their children's experiences with meanness and social challenges.

Mean comments. Leaving someone out. A group chat that spirals. Every parent dreads the moment their child comes home and says, "nobody played with me today." But knowing how to respond — without overreacting, underreacting, or accidentally making things worse — is genuinely hard. In this episode, we break down the real difference between bullying and kids just being mean (and why that distinction changes everything about what you do next), when to step in as a parent versus when to let your child work it out, and how to give kids the actual skills to handle social friction on their own. We're also talking about body language and confidence cues that kids send without realizing it, what to do when the mom group chat goes sideways, and how to protect your child's self-worth through all of it. Because the goal isn't to shield your kid from every hard social moment — it's to raise one who knows how to handle them. Tech Tip: Unsubscribe from old stuff in emails, consume less news before you are ready! Obsession: New Golf Shoes Obsession: ILIA Eye Shadow Pencil and Bryson DeChambeau Like to watch your podcast? Watch here. Support us by downloading our Free Kids & Tech Guidebook…

People in this episode

Hosts: Anne Pizzuti, Kate Doerksen

Topics covered

• parenting
• bullying
• social skills
• child development
• confidence
• communication

Keywords

• mean comments
• bullying
• social friction
• parenting tips
• child self-worth
• body language
• confidence cues

Mentioned in this episode

Products: ILIA Eye Shadow Pencil, New Golf Shoes

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