The social scene can be mean -- and that can affect learning. Unhappy students can decide they “hate” school -- and don't want to go. While some kids are naturally socially savvy, others just don't have those skillz.

Here’s what you can do to help your child combat hurt feelings and peer pressure:

• Tell your child, “It has nothing to do with you.” Someone who says mean things to another person does so based on how she is experiencing the world at that moment.
• Your child may even get to the point where she can feel sorry for someone who is feeling so badly about himself that she chooses to say mean things to other people.
• Build a larger circle of influence. Expand your child's circle of influence through sports, clubs and other activities with children from other schools or communities.
• A child who looks to only a small group of friends at school for reassurance about herself can experience big ups and downs in her self-esteem depending on how those friends are treating her at any particular time.
• Help your child know who she is, so her sense of self is not dependent on comments made by others. You can do this in everyday situations by asking your child to stop and pay attention to herself and her thoughts.