Three Impacts of bullying in children

Introduction

In recent research in the United States, It has been established that close to 200,000 children of school-going age fail to attend classes Due to the bullying epidemic. Heinous activities such as teasing, hitting, taunting, spreading rumors, and falsehood, as well as being threatened, are some of the most common forms of bullying that are commonly reported in the school environment (Hinduja & Patchin, 2010). However, as much as the effects of bullying differ fundamentally from one child to the next, the results of bullying that is experienced by different parties usually have adverse effects. Some of these experiences may be long-term, that children are unable to recover and therefore destroy their lives. Some of the effects of bullying are as discussed below.

1. Poor Academic performance.

According to the UCLA researchers, students who have been exposed to continuing episodes of bullying at schools are less likely to perform exemplarily in school. They have found that there is a direct relationship between bullying and poor academic grades (Gastic, 2008). In essence, children who are exposed to excessive bullying score substantially more mediocre grades than others who were less bullied or did not go through the experience at all.  Jana Joanne points out those students who suffered from bullying generally become demotivated to engage in educational activities. As discussed previously, bullying may include various physical or emotional aggression towards an individual (Hymel et al., 2005). The injuries sustained during such episodes demotivate learners to engage with their parents and other superiors for fear of having to explain the source of the vice and the identity of the perpetrators. Therefore they are bound to become anti-social and keep to themselves. School activates become tough on them, and they may end up dropping out of school.

1. Low-esteem

Bullying usually causes fear, tension, and anxiety. Those who are affected become afraid of engaging in activities for which they are not good or where they are likely to be ridiculed. Even in areas where they are capable of doing more or even better than the detractors, they are unable to see themselves in a positive light. Bullies thrive in an environment of fear, where they have the power to have a feeling of inadequacy and worthlessness ((Kupshik & Murphy, 2006). Lack of self believes it contributes to the success of bullies. When a child lacks confidence, they often withdraw from the rest of their peer group members and are rarely interested or happy about doing anything. For this reason, most of them are forced to find solace in immoral activities such as substance abuse, self-injury, mental health issues, obesity, and violence ((Rothon et al., 2011).

The utterances and lack of self-worth creep in as they try to counter low-self-esteem and try to fit in at school. In most cases, the children who are abused and bullied are the lot that usually does well academically, follows, school rules or does not seem to fall in line with the expectations of other school children. The bullies, on the other hand, are usually the losers and poor performers in school except for a few exceptions. The rationale for their actions is that they feel threatened socially by the quiet and the academically intelligent learners. Therefore they try to forcefully demean the better ones with the hope of diverting attention from their poor grades and rot in society. In this case, they transfer their low-esteemed to the weaker ones who are unable to fight for their own. A mantra among bullies goes like “If a mot passing, not one will.” This kind of mantra works better for the bully and works in the opposite for the one who is being bullied. The bully has no sense of morality and will, therefore, go to any lengths to establish their authority. Those who can’t, therefore, have to cower away or find other avenues of rediscovering themselves (Academic Pediatrics, 2010).

1. Depression, Stress, and Suicide

Continued feelings of rejection and sadness cause stress and depression in the long-run if unchecked. This can become severe in bullied children who have been depressing. Researchers have found that children who have been bullied at some point in their lives get suicidal and become reckless of behavior, and they are also more likely to injure themselves (Agatston et al., 2007). In addition, they develop an ideology where they are more interested in death and dying and usually refer to events that could lead to death. Extreme sudden changes happen progressively, where the children are not closely monitored.

Conclusion

Bullying is a moral wrong that should be fought from all quarters. This is because the results of bullying are usually negative, whether on the part of the bully of the person being bullied. However, parents and other guardians have the capability of arresting the situation by closely monitoring the activities of the children whenever they are on the playground. It is essential that the concerned parties speak with one voice about the vice. This will be useful in developing useful policies and systems to ensure that they are implemented to the letter and for the purpose for which they were created. Contact the school officials to establish the depth of the problem and the psychological intervention for each child where they have fallen victim to severe bullying at school.

References

Agatston, P. W., Kowalski, R., & Limber, S. (2007). Students’ perspectives on cyberbullying. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41(6), S59-S60.

Gastic, B. (2008). School truancy and the disciplinary problems of bullying victims. Educational Review, 60(4), 391-404.

Hinduja, S., & Patchin, J. W. (2010). Bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide. Archives of suicide research, 14(3), 206-221.

Hymel, S., Rocke-Henderson, N., & Bonanno, R. A. (2005). Moral disengagement: A framework for understanding bullying among adolescents. Journal of Social Sciences, 8(1), 1-11.

Kupshik, G. A., & Murphy, P. M. (2006). Loneliness, stress, and well-being: A helper’s guide. Routledge.

Oswald, K. M. (2008). Positive behavior supports The involvement of students in the process (Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University).

Rothon, C., Head, J., Klineberg, E., & Stansfeld, S. (2011). Can social support protect bullied adolescents from adverse outcomes? A prospective study on the effects of bullying on the educational achievement and mental health of adolescents at secondary schools in East London. Journal of adolescence, 34(3), 579-588.