It happened last year, when my daughter was a primary school second grader. I noticed she was always upset in the mornings before she went to school, and for several days she used excuses such as stomach aches to delay leaving home.

I assumed that she was in some sort of trouble, especially as she was not doing well academically at the time. Eventually, I asked her if anything was wrong, and she told me she was being bullied by a classmate who sat in front of her and whose grades were quite good.

The classmate often intercepted her exercise books when they were handed down from the front to the back. He accused her of dragging down the entire class because of her poor grades, as well as mocking and teasing her. He also hid her belongings.

Hoping to settle things ourselves, I encouraged my daughter to go to the teacher who supervised the class. The teacher spoke with the bully and reprimanded him, but without making things worse. The two children began to get along better, and my daughter was finally able to concentrate on her studies and was happy to go to school.

As a parent, the best thing to do is probably to suggest a solution to the child and then let them handle the issue themselves. After all, growing up is a child's own experience and parents only need to step in when it's really necessary.

Children will only realize their own inner strength when they stand up and fight their own battles.

Zhu Heng spoke with Han Junhong.