Study: Bullying Is a Common Problem Among Schoolchildren
Bullying in schools has increasingly become recognized as a serious problem as we have seen it implicated in more and more tragic school shootings. A new study looked at just how frequently students have an experience with bullying. Our health correspondent Dr. Emily Senay explains.
A new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that nearly one-third of US children and teenagers have experienced bullying, either as the victim, or the perpetrator, or both. This survey, which was done in 1998, is the first one that has looked at the prevalence of bullying in the United States. Researchers from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development analyzed data from 15,686 public and private school students in the sixth through tenth grades.
The report indicates that not enough is being done to prevent the problem in this country in comparison to some other countries.
Don't we know bullying is a problem? What's new about this study?
Yes, we know that bullying is a problem in schools, but it's never been quantified in this country. This study looked at a representative sample of more than 15,600 students. Approximately 30% of them said they had an experience with bullying--13% as a bully, 11% as the victim of bullying, and 6% as both--that's a huge amount.
Do parents usually know if their kids are being bullied?
The authors of the study say that parents often don't know. In fact, very often, kids won't tell anyone that this is happening to them, but they may demonstrate some behavior that may be a sign. Children who are being bullied may become withdrawn, be isolated without friends, and may be reluctant to go to school.
Who's doing this bullying?
Both boys and girls do it, but it's more common in boys. The type of bullying boys and girls are doing is different. Boys engage in more physical bullying, although they will do name calling and psychological bullying. The type of bullying girls do is more psychological. They will start rumors and they will ostracize a girl. Both boys and girls will bully another student over their appearance.
Isn't bullying just a normal part of childhood?
Yes. But, if you think it's a normal part of childhood, look at the level of violence in our schools right now, and I ask you the question: "Is that normal?" Just because it's prevalent doesn't mean it's normal, and just because it's common doesn't mean it's healthy.
Bullying is increasingly being linked to psychosocial problems in children. This study doesn't try to link bullying or being bullied with the risk of students getting involved in more violent behavior, such as carrying weapons to school. But, it does discuss how bullying can lead to psychosocial problems such as higher rates of fighting, and that indicates there may be a link.
Did this study recommend what we should do in this country abou bullying?
The experience with bullying in Europe is very interesting. When they enacted antibullying programs and got teachers involved and parents as well, bullying behavior decreased. In other words they created an environment where bullying wasn't acceptable. The kids who bullied became the oddballs. Their school intervention programs reduced bullying by 30 to 50%.
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