Before the Bullying Starts: How Parents Can Raise Kind, Empathetic and Resilient Children

In this episode, we're joined by Mari Payne, Deputy Managing Director and Senior Director of Education and Outreach at Sesame Workshop International South Africa, to explore a question every parent thinks about: where does bullying really start, and how can we prevent it? Mari unpacks how empathy, self-regulation, and social skills are built in the earliest years, and how responsive, nurturing parenting shapes how children treat others. She shares practical, everyday ways parents can model kindness, set warm boundaries, support a child who is being excluded or bullied, and partner with schools when concerns arise. A grounding conversation for every parent raising a small human in a big social world.