**Content Warning: This episode discusses bullying, emotional abuse, childhood trauma, and mentions of violence. Please practice self-care while listening.

Welcome to The Shadow Side with Safrianna, where we illuminate what others too often keep hidden in the dark. I'm Safrianna Lughna - licensed therapist, CEO of Living LUNAs, and your guide into the world of shadow work.

In this powerful episode, I sit down with Dāli Rivera, parenting coach and bullying awareness advocate, to tackle one of the most pervasive yet under-addressed issues facing our children and communities: bullying. With a mental health epidemic affecting young people and bullying playing a significant role, this conversation couldn't be more timely or necessary.

Dāli shares her expertise on recognizing bullying behaviors, understanding their long-term impacts, and most importantly, giving parents and kids practical tools to stand up against bullying wherever it appears. We explore how bullying erodes self-worth over time, creating patterns that follow people into adulthood and affect everything from career choices to relationship dynamics.

What We Discuss:

— How bullying impacts develop over time, from childhood through adulthood

— The connection between self-love, boundaries, and standing up to bullies

— Practical scripts and responses kids can use when facing bullying

— Why some populations face disproportionately higher rates of bullying

— The importance of teaching emotional regulation and conflict resolution

— How cultural patterns around authority can enable or prevent bullying

— Why bullies need help too, and what happens when they don't get it

— Red flags for parents to watch for in their children's behavior

— How to respond when your child reports being bullied (and what NOT to say)

— The critical role of at least one supportive person in a bullied child's life

— Digital citizenship and cyber bullying in our connected world

— How self-advocacy for ourselves advocates for everyone else

Dāli brings both professional expertise and raw honesty to this conversation, breaking down the micro-habits and cultural patterns that allow bullying to thrive. From recognizing backhanded compliments to understanding gaslighting, she provides vocabulary and frameworks that help both kids and adults name what's happening to them.

We also address the uncomfortable truth that bullying isn't just a "kids being kids" issue - it's a form of abuse with serious, lasting consequences. The 84-year-old man still crying about high school bullying. The parent triggered by their child's experience because of their own unhealed wounds. The patterns of accepting mistreatment that begin when we're told we're not worth standing up for.

This episode is essential listening for parents, educators, anyone working with children, and adults still carrying the weight of childhood bullying experiences. It's also for anyone who wants to understand how the patterns of accepting abuse begin early and how we can interrupt those cycles.

About Dāli Rivera:

Dāli Rivera is a parenting coach specializing in bullying awareness and prevention. She founded her organization and the Diversity and Anti-Bullying Academy in 2017, though her work in this space began long before. Dāli is passionate about teaching families that bullying is a form of abuse that can be life-altering, starting as early as preschool and contributing significantly to the current mental health epidemic among young people.

Through her work, Dāli provides parents, educators, and children with concrete tools for recognizing, responding to, and preventing bullying. She emphasizes teaching self-love, boundary-setting, and emotional intelligence from an early age. Her book, Confident Bulletproof Kids, offers scenarios, prompts, and practical scripts to help families...