Some kids welcome the start of a new school year with the same enthusiasm as the first day of summer vacation. Others dread the day and start showing signs of rattled nerves come mid-August.

If your child is less than happy about the coming school year, you may be able to help by working with him on coping strategies to deal with his feelings. Start off by talking to your child about what’s bothering them. Talking about their concerns can help ease their fears. Ask them to tell you their favorite things about school and remind them that they’ll be with friends they haven’t seen all summer. Also tell them that many kids have first day jitters and that in no time at all, they’ll fall into the routine.

Your child may not want to tell you what is bothering him, but keep in mind that many children fear the following:

• Being away from their families

• Not being able to make friends

• Being called on in class

• Finding someone to eat lunch with

• Failing a difficult class

• Having a "mean" teacher

• Taking the school bus

• Being bullied or teased by other children

Despite widespread efforts to deal with the problem, bullying is a persistent issue in schools, says Donna Henderson, a professor of counseling at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

"The goal is to create a no-bullying environment for children. It’s hard because we live in a world that accepts violence, intimidation and power as currency in life," Henderson said in a university news release.

Parents of the 13 million children who suffer from an acute bullying problem can now find solutions at their fingertips. Sears has announced the launch of Team Up to Stop Bullying to address America’s bullying issue, which spikes as students return to classrooms and playgrounds. Team Up to Stop Bullying is the first solutions- and service-based anti-bullying coalition striving to provide immediate solutions that parents and schools can implement today.

"Team Up to Stop Bullying provides much-needed resources to parents, children, educators and communities and will help Americans understand that bullying is a not a normal part of childhood," said Marie Newman, bullying solutions author and managing director of Team Up to Stop Bullying. "Every seven minutes a child is bullied at school and studies show that schools with an anti-bullying program see a decrease in bullying up to 50 percent. While there isn’t one fix to every bullying problem, there are solutions and services that work. Now, for the first time, there is one simple place to connect to those solutions at www.sears.com/TeamUp."

You should discuss bullying with your children. Use real situations, news stories, television programs and movies as opportunities to talk about bullying. And watch for signs that they might be experiencing some form of harassment at school. Some warning signs at the start of the new school year could be sudden changes in behavior and not eating. If you suspect someone is bullying your child, you might want to take some of the following measures:

• Discuss and/or role play possible responses to bullying, such as walking away, not showing emotion, staying in groups to avoid being singled out, and confronting a bully.

• Letting them know you understand and share their distress can help them feel better.

• Regularly ask children about bullying and address any problem immediately.

With your help, your child can face the first day of school with excitement instead of anxiety. You may even find that their back-to-school jitters disappear shortly after the first bell rings!