(CNN)Bullying can be defined by many things. It's teasing, name-calling, stereotyping, fighting, exclusion, spreading rumors, public shaming and aggressive intimidation. It can be in person and online. But it can no longer be considered a rite of passage that strengthens character, suggests.
Adolescents who are bullied by their peers actually suffer from worse long-term mental health effects than children who are maltreated by adults, based on a study published last week in The Lancet Psychiatry.
The findings were a surprise to Dr. Dieter Wolke and his team that led the study, who expected the two groups to be similarly affected. However, because children tend to spend more time with their peers, it stands to reason that if they have negative relationships with one another, the effects could be severe and long-lasting, he said. They also found that children maltreated by adults were more likely to be bullied.
The researchers discovered that children who were bullied are more likely to suffer anxiety, depression and consider self-harm and suicide later in life.
While all children face conflict, disagreements between friends can usually be resolved in some way. But the repetitive nature of bullying is what can cause such harm, Wolke said.
"Bullying is comparable to a scenario for a caged animal," he said. "The classroom is a place where you're with people you didn't choose to be with, and you can't escape them if something negative happens."
Children can internalize the harmful effects of bullying, which creates stress-related issues such as anxiety and depression, or they can externalize it by turning from a victim to a bully themselves. Either way, the result has a painful impact.
The study also concluded with a call to action, suggesting that while the government has justifiably focused on addressing maltreatment and abuse in the home, they should also consider bullying as a serious problem that requires schools, health services and communities to prevent, respond to or stop this abusive culture from forming.
"It's a community problem,"
Wolke said. "Physicians don't ask about bullying. Health professionals, educators and legislation could provide parents with medical and social resources. We all need to be trained to ask about peer relationships."
Stopping bullying in schools
Division and misunderstanding are some of the motivations behind bullying because they highlight differences. If children don't understand those differences, they can form negative associations, said Johanna Eager, director for the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Welcoming Schools program.
Programs such as Welcoming Schools, for kindergarten through fifth grade, and Not in Our School, a movement for kindergarten through high school, want to help teachers, parents and children to stop a culture of bullying from taking hold in a school or community.
They offer lesson plans, staff training and speakers for schools, as well as events for parents.
Welcoming Schools is focused on helping children embrace diversity and overcome stereotypes at a young age. It's the best place to start to prevent damaging habits that could turn into bullying by middle school or high school.
6 ways to embrace gender differences at school
The lesson plans aim to help teachers and students by encouraging that our differences are positive aspects rather than negatives, whether it be in appearance, gender or religion, Eager said. They are also designed to help teachers lead discussions and answer tough questions that might come up.
Teachable moments present themselves in these classrooms daily, and Welcoming Schools offers resources to navigate those difficult moments. If they are prepared, teachers can address it and following up with a question.
They cover questions from "Why do you think it's wrong for a boy to wear pink?" and "What does it mean to be gay or lesbian?" to "Would you be an ally or a bystander if someone was picking on your friend?" and "Why does it hurt when someone says this?"
Welcoming Schools is present in more than 30 states, working with about 500 schools and 115 districts.
Not in Our School has the same mission to create identity-safe school climates that encourage acceptance. They want to help build empathy in students and encourage them to become "upstanders" rather than bystanders.
Their lesson plans and videos, viewed by schools across the country, include teaching students about how to safely intervene in a situation, reach out to a trusted adult, befriend a bullied child or be an activist against bullying. While the role of teachers, counselors and resource officers will always be important, peer-to-peer relationships make a big difference, said Becki Cohn-Vargas, director of Not in Our Schools.
These positive practices can help build self-esteem and don't focus on punishing bullies because the emphasis is on restorative justice: repairing harm and helping children and teens to change their aggressive behavior.
But it can't be up to the schools alone.
"What's really important is getting the public and the medical world to recognize bullying for what it is -- a serious issue," Cohn-Vargas said.
#IWishMyTeacherKnew shares students' heartbreak, hopes
A global problem
Bullying, the study suggests, is a global issue. It is particularly prevalent in countries where there are rigid class divisions between higher and lower income families, Wolke said.
Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt, a University of Ottawa professor and Canada Research Chair for Children's Mental Health and Violence Prevention, believes that defining bullying can help in how we address it. Look at it as a behavior that causes harm, rather than normal adolescent behavior, she said.
Role models should also keep a close eye on their own behavior, she said. Sometimes, adults can say or do things in front of their children that mimic aggressive behavior, such gossiping, demeaning others, encouraging their children to hit back or allowing sibling rivalry to escalate into something more harmful.
Parents, beware of bullying on sites you've never seen
"We tend to admire power," Vaillancourt said. "But we also tend to abuse power, because we don't talk about achieving power in an appropriate way. Bullying is part of the human condition, but that doesn't make it right. We should be taking care of each other. "
The study compared young adults in the United States and the United Kingdom who were maltreated and bullied in childhood. Data was collected from two separate studies, comparing 4,026 participants from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children in the UK and 1,273 participants from the Great Smoky Mountain Study in the U.S.
The UK data looked at maltreatment from the ages of 8 weeks to 8.6 years, bullying at ages 8, 10 and 13 and the mental health effects at age 18. The U.S. study presented data on bullying and maltreatment between the ages of 9 and 16, and the mental health effects from ages 19 to 25.
https://www.cnn.com/2015/05/08/health/bullying-mental-health-effects/index.html
Adolescents who are bullied by their peers actually suffer from worse long-term mental health effects than children who are maltreated by adults, based on a study published last week in The Lancet Psychiatry.
The findings were a surprise to Dr. Dieter Wolke and his team that led the study, who expected the two groups to be similarly affected. However, because children tend to spend more time with their peers, it stands to reason that if they have negative relationships with one another, the effects could be severe and long-lasting, he said. They also found that children maltreated by adults were more likely to be bullied.
The researchers discovered that children who were bullied are more likely to suffer anxiety, depression and consider self-harm and suicide later in life.
While all children face conflict, disagreements between friends can usually be resolved in some way. But the repetitive nature of bullying is what can cause such harm, Wolke said.
"Bullying is comparable to a scenario for a caged animal," he said. "The classroom is a place where you're with people you didn't choose to be with, and you can't escape them if something negative happens."
Children can internalize the harmful effects of bullying, which creates stress-related issues such as anxiety and depression, or they can externalize it by turning from a victim to a bully themselves. Either way, the result has a painful impact.
The study also concluded with a call to action, suggesting that while the government has justifiably focused on addressing maltreatment and abuse in the home, they should also consider bullying as a serious problem that requires schools, health services and communities to prevent, respond to or stop this abusive culture from forming.
"It's a community problem,"
Wolke said. "Physicians don't ask about bullying. Health professionals, educators and legislation could provide parents with medical and social resources. We all need to be trained to ask about peer relationships."
Stopping bullying in schools
Division and misunderstanding are some of the motivations behind bullying because they highlight differences. If children don't understand those differences, they can form negative associations, said Johanna Eager, director for the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Welcoming Schools program.
Programs such as Welcoming Schools, for kindergarten through fifth grade, and Not in Our School, a movement for kindergarten through high school, want to help teachers, parents and children to stop a culture of bullying from taking hold in a school or community.
They offer lesson plans, staff training and speakers for schools, as well as events for parents.
Welcoming Schools is focused on helping children embrace diversity and overcome stereotypes at a young age. It's the best place to start to prevent damaging habits that could turn into bullying by middle school or high school.
6 ways to embrace gender differences at school
The lesson plans aim to help teachers and students by encouraging that our differences are positive aspects rather than negatives, whether it be in appearance, gender or religion, Eager said. They are also designed to help teachers lead discussions and answer tough questions that might come up.
Teachable moments present themselves in these classrooms daily, and Welcoming Schools offers resources to navigate those difficult moments. If they are prepared, teachers can address it and following up with a question.
They cover questions from "Why do you think it's wrong for a boy to wear pink?" and "What does it mean to be gay or lesbian?" to "Would you be an ally or a bystander if someone was picking on your friend?" and "Why does it hurt when someone says this?"
Welcoming Schools is present in more than 30 states, working with about 500 schools and 115 districts.
Not in Our School has the same mission to create identity-safe school climates that encourage acceptance. They want to help build empathy in students and encourage them to become "upstanders" rather than bystanders.
Their lesson plans and videos, viewed by schools across the country, include teaching students about how to safely intervene in a situation, reach out to a trusted adult, befriend a bullied child or be an activist against bullying. While the role of teachers, counselors and resource officers will always be important, peer-to-peer relationships make a big difference, said Becki Cohn-Vargas, director of Not in Our Schools.
These positive practices can help build self-esteem and don't focus on punishing bullies because the emphasis is on restorative justice: repairing harm and helping children and teens to change their aggressive behavior.
But it can't be up to the schools alone.
"What's really important is getting the public and the medical world to recognize bullying for what it is -- a serious issue," Cohn-Vargas said.
#IWishMyTeacherKnew shares students' heartbreak, hopes
A global problem
Bullying, the study suggests, is a global issue. It is particularly prevalent in countries where there are rigid class divisions between higher and lower income families, Wolke said.
Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt, a University of Ottawa professor and Canada Research Chair for Children's Mental Health and Violence Prevention, believes that defining bullying can help in how we address it. Look at it as a behavior that causes harm, rather than normal adolescent behavior, she said.
Role models should also keep a close eye on their own behavior, she said. Sometimes, adults can say or do things in front of their children that mimic aggressive behavior, such gossiping, demeaning others, encouraging their children to hit back or allowing sibling rivalry to escalate into something more harmful.
Parents, beware of bullying on sites you've never seen
"We tend to admire power," Vaillancourt said. "But we also tend to abuse power, because we don't talk about achieving power in an appropriate way. Bullying is part of the human condition, but that doesn't make it right. We should be taking care of each other. "
The study compared young adults in the United States and the United Kingdom who were maltreated and bullied in childhood. Data was collected from two separate studies, comparing 4,026 participants from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children in the UK and 1,273 participants from the Great Smoky Mountain Study in the U.S.
The UK data looked at maltreatment from the ages of 8 weeks to 8.6 years, bullying at ages 8, 10 and 13 and the mental health effects at age 18. The U.S. study presented data on bullying and maltreatment between the ages of 9 and 16, and the mental health effects from ages 19 to 25.
https://www.cnn.com/2015/05/08/health/bullying-mental-health-effects/index.html
P
Prick
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- #205
That will teach him.
jackaubrey
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- Messages
- 256
With due respect to Prick and GOD for raising resurrecting this topic again - clearly your-God and our work is still undone.
(OK. Can't resist but will but there's a wicked pun there but I'm moving on.)
Been bullied at various stages in my life. Endured, tolerated, survived.
Parents, teacher, bosses, colleagues need to, must step in and step up, so kids, friends, co-workers don't have to solve this alone. No person should be left alone to sort out the unfair and unreasonable domination of another.
(Personal play aside)
For that matter, no-one - whatever age, whatever sex, whatever preference of sex, actually-really, whatever reason period - no-one should be left alone to endure any insult or assault - verbal or physical. Ever.
My wish for this community - let's support eachother. (new word) - in a positive way. Let's agree to treat each as we we'd like to be treated - that last bit is older than even I can remember and it's always struck me, it's what binds all of us in a positive supportive way but strangely not all of us get. We should.
(OK. Can't resist but will but there's a wicked pun there but I'm moving on.)
Been bullied at various stages in my life. Endured, tolerated, survived.
Parents, teacher, bosses, colleagues need to, must step in and step up, so kids, friends, co-workers don't have to solve this alone. No person should be left alone to sort out the unfair and unreasonable domination of another.
(Personal play aside)
For that matter, no-one - whatever age, whatever sex, whatever preference of sex, actually-really, whatever reason period - no-one should be left alone to endure any insult or assault - verbal or physical. Ever.
My wish for this community - let's support eachother. (new word) - in a positive way. Let's agree to treat each as we we'd like to be treated - that last bit is older than even I can remember and it's always struck me, it's what binds all of us in a positive supportive way but strangely not all of us get. We should.
U
User-E
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- #207
jackaubrey said:
I agree wholeheartedly! :good:
Sometimes it seems like the whole world is prejudiced against the industry, so we need to support and help each other because all we're all we've got.
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Wanker
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hearthewind
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If she were daughter
I would just pick her up, and move very very far away.
I would just pick her up, and move very very far away.
W
Wanker
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- #212
W
Wanker
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- #213
5Startastetester
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I'm a Bit of a Bull despite being Bullied. and the Bull just goes headstrong n rams into stuffs as he eats greens and grass:shout:
The world is full of stupidity, what can you do. You can either become just as stupid or ignore.
lot of the times easier said than done, but we choose our paths!
The world is full of stupidity, what can you do. You can either become just as stupid or ignore.
lot of the times easier said than done, but we choose our paths!
W
Wanker
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R
Robintheboywonder
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Agree, disagree on mother's tactics?.
Mother shaving daughter’s hair after she bullied bald cancer patient
Mother shaving daughter’s hair after she bullied bald cancer patient
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Robintheboywonder said:
I'd have to see how bad the bullying was first. I might have tried getting my daughter to apologize, then fundraise or give her allowance to cancer research or something instead of shaving her head.
George Costanza
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- Messages
- 996
Bullies are winning the battles again.
https://www.torontosun.com/2016/12/...mitted-suicide-in-front-of-her-family-reports
https://www.torontosun.com/2016/12/...mitted-suicide-in-front-of-her-family-reports
