Preschool 'mean kids'

[funder]

Any help or advice appreciated.

I have a preschool age child. They are very sweet natured and gentle, smart and emotionally intelligent.

I have noticed that other children their age are being 'mean' to my child. In the park, at nursery etc. different children in different situations. Varying from name calling to pushing/hitting, excluding from games and ganging up on them.

I don't know what advice to give my child on how to deal with these interactions. I've gone with "tell them not to touch you and walk away. You don't want to be friends with others who aren't kind"

I'm really at a loss as to how to deal with it. I'm not sure if certain personalities attract bullies but I want to arm them with as many tools as I can to get ahead of situations like this.

Your OP and updates are completely at odds with each other.

If it’s different children across different settings, then you need to be firm and consistent that you expect kindness and respect towards others, from him, all the time. Telling him that other children are wrong, mean and bullies won’t help - you can only alter his behaviour, not theirs. Teach him that everyone has a unique personality and that some people are more forthright and confident than others, but that doesn’t mean his views and opinions don’t matter. Use these situations to teach him about self worth, not get cross about other people’s children.

If your DC is no longer wanting to go to pre school because of one or two specific children, then you need to discuss this with the care providers to find out way (be careful of one sided stories) and come up with a solution.