In Sweden, a recent local news survey reported that one in five students are bullied while at school. The survey also showed that over 67% of those surveyed felt their school was not doing enough to prevent it. An Australian study indicates the same number, one in five. Research in Britian’s Northamptonshire county indicates that 50% of the school children had been bullied at one point or another by classmates.
People are becoming aware that raising a healthy child is not just dependent on them choosing to eat and drink wisely. The concept that “kids will be kids”, and “they’ll get over it”, is giving way to the understanding that bullying is the propagation of serious emotional/personality issues. Society is beginning to take measures to address the injustice associated with bullying, as exhibited by the Florida State Senate passing anti-bullying legislation on April 30th, but the damage is usually done by the time justice is served.
The children who are subjected to bullying in schools are rarely afforded the same protections adults are when they go to work. Incidents that would be described as harassment or assault, do not carry the same stigma if it happens to a child; yet the child is even less emotionally prepared than an adult to deal with the situation. The Indiana Supreme Court has gone so far as to define “workplace bullying” as a legal term, and recently ruled in favor of a nurse who sued a surgeon she worked with for emotional distress.
A study out of Purdue University in 2006 found that the peak year for bullying was sixth grade. Their study showed 46% of the students surveyed had experienced bullying. Bullies tend to fall into one of two psychological categories: one is a malicious person who may be the product of a dysfunctional family; the other type of bully is a member of a group who gains power by harassing peers that do not belong to their group.
The effects of bullying on the vulnerable target are well known. Depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and eating disorders are just a few of the effects bullying can have on children. Although psychologists are saying the targets of bullies will likely overcome these traumas, they believe the bullies themselves will continue to fail later in life. The Journal of the American Medical Association reported in 2001 that 35%-40% of former bullies have 3 or more criminal convictions by the age of 24.
The Valley Middle School website is displaying the winning logo in a contest aimed at promoting their campaign to stop bullying. Please see The Oakland Journal’s accompanying article in the Schools page.