Values That Contribute to Bullying Behavior

"In Mary Romeo's high school health class, the subject is 'fun things kids can do during their weekends.' Romeo mentions movies, music, theaters, trips to New York. One jock holds up a hand to interrupt her, 'Miss Romeo,' he says, ‘we might as well end this discussion because over the weekend we get drunk, we have as much sex as we can have, and on Monday we come back to school. That’s what we do’”.

Many adults ask, “What has happened to our children’s values?” The answer we have heard from many youths is, “If you want something different, model something different. We learn from you.”

One wise adolescent girl told us, “Adults are always worrying about the values of young people today. If they are really worried about our values, maybe they should try putting elders in our living rooms instead of TV sets. We are learning the values we’re being taught. Our elders today are television sets. One of the biggest problems facing youth today is abandonment. Nobody’s there.”

We recently saw a bumper sticker that relates well to this youth’s concern: “Television: Thief of Time, Thief of Mind.” Many studies have indicated that television violence contributes to youth violence, particularly if the youth liked the violence they were viewing.

“In effect a child begins to ‘store’ the idea of particularly aggressive actions alongside memories of familiar situations that are frustrating. Psychologists call stored patterns ‘algorithms.’… The algorithms for aggression in young children are formed because of the repeated exposure they get to powerful role models who show them how to change things their way through the use of violence”.

Yet the problem of aggression in children can’t be linked solely to television, video games or violent lyrics in music. The problem exists when television is the most compelling role model in the child’s life and/or the actions of caregivers in the child’s life support aggressive behaviour and intolerance.

Children who lack consistent models at home frequently search for them in their extended families or in the broader community: a teacher, policeman, spiritual leader. Many of the bullies we have treated lacked these important mentors. They will find them instead in rock stars, gang leaders, cult leaders or Hollywood antiheroes. The unhealthy role models have increasing influence on the lives of our young people.

Many children today come home to an empty house and spend many hours alone in front of a TV set waiting for an adult caretaker to arrive on the scene. Often the first greeting they receive is criticism for not doing their chores or homework. They are told to be accountable for their behaviour, yet many spend hours listening to their adult caretakers blame each other for what is or isn’t done or maybe for their children’s behaviour. They teach the importance of community, equality and tolerance, but can be overheard gossiping about a neighbour or talking about “bitches” or “queers.” They may be taught the importance of family, yet their family may not eat one meal together all week.

Rather than learning values that support connectedness, interconnectedness and conflict resolution, many children learn values that support aggression, disrespect and “everyone for themselves.” The long road to psychological birth takes eight years. Children take from the outside and bring to the inside teachings about self, people and life. Many wise elders have said, “Before you take an action in your life, turn around. When you take the time to look before you act, you will see the children following you.”

We have heard adult caregivers cautioning their children, “You can’t let yourself be stepped on. You’ve got to fight back. Look out for number one. No one else will.” Many parents discipline their children for fighting with siblings, lecture them against hitting, and yet encourage them to hit a classmate that has bullied them. Another parent might tell a child to care for others and share, and yet cut in front of everyone in the grocery line. The message that is taught is the one that is seen, the example that is set, not the one that is heard.

            Many youths have told us that the values they are learning in their families and communities are often ones that lead to competition and aggression rather than connection and cooperation. The following are some convictions that can lead to competition, bullying and aggression, rather than connection and cooperation. Check your own way of life against this list and consider the actions of society at large:

1.      I need it right now. Gratification has to happen immediately.

2.      Might is right.

3.      Don’t get involved.

4.      It’s important to beat out the other guy before he gets ahead of you.

5.      Get ahead any way you can.

6.      Women are objects.

7.      Men don’t feel.

8.      My beliefs are right and yours are wrong.

9.      Aggression is the appropriate way to handle disagreement.

10.  Money and objects are more important than relationships.

11.  Good guys finish last.

12.  You’re not accountable unless you get caught.

13.  Money is power. You can get anything you want or solve any problem with enough money.

14.  Talk about people, not to people.

15.  Blame others for your problems.

16.  I can only heard if I talk louder, or show you who’s boss.

17.  Childhood is overrated. Grow up fast so that I can get on with my life.

18.  Look out for number one.

19.  Those are your kids, not my kids.

20.  Your problems are none of my concern.

Adapted from Jane Middelton-Moz and Mary Lee Zawadski, 2002, "The Making of a Bully: Their Own Stories" eds., From the Playground to the Boardroom (Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communication, Inc), pp. 79-82. 


POSTED BY : KONG CHEAH SHIEN

The Stages of Bullying

In order to help with bully/victim problems, it is useful for educators to identify how bullying begins, who are commonly targeted and what the outcomes may be.

Beginnings

A child or a group of children is targeted by peers more powerful than they are. They may be bigger, stronger, more able to hurt another verbally, more popular or well supported and more able to exclude others.

The Target

Although any child may become a victim of bullying, children are more likely to be bullied if they are physically weak, introverted, timid, anxious and unassertive, or if they belong to a group against which there is such prejudice that they can be isolated. This could include belonging to a racial or religious minority or being disabled.

Outcomes

How or whether the bullying continues depends on a number of factors. These include:

• The degree of imbalance between the person doing the bullying and the victim. It is especially difficult for a child to resist a group or a more powerful individual. Even so, with appropriate advice and support for vulnerable children the imbalance can often be reduced.

• The strategies available to the victim:

– being able to respond assertively or (if appropriate) nonchalantly

– being able to avoid threatening situations

– seeking (and receiving) effective help from others.

• The way bystanders behave in the situation,

– by encouraging the bullying

– by passively standing by and seemingly condoning the bullying

– by actively helping the victim.

• Whether staffs recognise what is happening and intervene appropriately.

• The actions subsequently taken by teachers with those who have been involved in the bullying.

Therefore, it is useful and important to prevent bullying happens among children as it may lead to a stage of dangers.

Adapted from, "Bullying among young children: A guide for teacher and carers". 2003. An Australian Government Initiative (Commonwealth of Australia).

POSTED BY : KONG CHEAH SHIEN

Strategies To Eradicate Bullying In Secondary Schools

Strategies for Bully Free Secondary Schools 

Bullying is a problem that occurs in the social environment as a whole. The bullies' 

aggression occurs in social contexts in which teachers and parents are generally unaware 

of the extent of the problem and other children are either reluctant to get involved or 

simply do not know how to help (Charach, Pepler, & Ziegler, 1995). Given this situation, 

effective interventions must involve the entire school community rather than focus on the 

perpetrators and victims alone. Smith and Sharp (1994) emphasize the need to develop 

whole-school bullying policies, implement  curricular measures, improve the school 

ground environment, and empower students through conflict resolution, peer counseling, 

and assertiveness training.  

Secondary schools are responsible for protecting their students’ population. 

Students cannot learn effectively if they fear for their safety. Troubled students, both 

victims and bullies, need a supportive environment to learn and grow. There are a number 

of strategies that the management of secondary schools can adopt to eliminate or 

minimize bullying activities in their schools. These include setting code of students 

conduct and behavior; teaching skills on anger management, friendship, assertiveness, 

conflict resolution, and peer mediation; exploring ways to deal with bullies; promoting 

structured activities and team work; providing effective supervision; building empathy 

and understanding; getting students involve in services; teaching students to be 

affirmative and positive. Each of these strategies is discussed below. 

i. Establishing and Enforcing Rules about Bullying and Behavior 

An international school in  a neighboring country encourages its students to inform 

confidentially their teachers about any form of bullying. The school has a code of 

behavior as follows: “The  school authority does not tolerate bullying, name calling, 

harassment, teasing or intimidation of others including harassment of younger students, 

female students, and students from minority groups. It expects students to show 

tolerance, understanding, and courtesy to the people with whom they come into contact, 

fellow students, teachers, and members of the public. If any students are facing problems 6 

with their friends, family or others, they are encouraged to talk to their coordinator, 

teachers or counselors.”  A code of behavior like this can be adopted so that students are 

aware that bullying behavior is not accepted in the schools premises and they would 

voluntarily come forward to report any forms of bullying activities that they come across 

or witness or even heard of. Such rules clearly communicate a zero tolerance for bullying 

and an expectation of positive behavior. They also meet students’ physical and 

psychological needs for safety for it is hard to learn when they are intimidated, 

threatened, and scared of or when they are witness to intimidating, threatening and scary 

behavior. 

For rules to be effective, they should  be created with student’s input, short and 

simple, easy to understand, specific, agreed upon and accepted by everyone, enforceable, 

communicated to and supported  by parents, others, teachers and staff, and reviewed 

periodically and updated when needed. 

ii. Teaching Anger Management Skills 

When students are in danger or under some kind of stress, they tend to experience the 

“fight-or-flight” response. They battle the cause of the danger they perceive or the stress 

they experience or they run as fast as they can to get away. When students are bullied, 

running away is an option and sometimes it’s the only option. They need to know that 

fighting is not an option except in cases where self-defense is essential. What can they do 

instead of fighting or trying to hurt someone back? They can learn and practice other 

ways to manage their anger. These ways  include like don retaliated or do anything right 

away but consider various  options. For example the options of walking away, finding 

another person to be with, telling an adult of what happened or counting slowly from 1 to 

10 and backwards to cool anger or control your temper and remain cool and calm.

iii. Teaching Friendship Skill

Some secondary schools students become bullies because they don’t have friends, feel 

lonely and seek attention by bullying. Some kids become victims because they’re isolated 

and easier to pick on. All students, be they bullies or victims and others can benefit from 

learning and practicing friendship skills. Students can be taught skills on how to make 

and keep friends. These skills include reaching out to people first, involvement in social 

clubs, letting people know that you are interested in them, not showing off, be honest, 

kind and accepting or accommodative. 

iv. Teaching Assertive Skills 

Some secondary schools students do not know what to do or how to react when they are 

being bullied. Should they cry, run away, fight back or get even? Victims tend to be 

passive that is behaving as  if other people’s right matter  more than theirs. Assertive 

people respect their own rights and other  people’s right. Students should know their 

rights like the right to stand up to people who tease, criticize or look down upon them and 

the right to respond when someone violates  their rights. Secondary schools students can 

be taught how to look assertive like standing up straight, keeping head up, looking people 

in the eye and so on. When students appear  assertive, they are  more likely to feel 

assertive and fellow students will treat them with respect. 

v. Teaching Conflict Resolution Skills 

Conflict between people is normal and inevitable and not all conflict is harmful or bad. 

Destructive conflict damages relationships, creates bad feelings and lead to future 

problems. But constructive conflict helps people learn, grow, and change for the better 

like seeing things from other  perspectives, become more open minded, tolerant and 

accepting. Everyone benefits from learning  and practicing conflict resolution. Bullies 

discover the real power of solving problems without using intimidation. Victims are 

empowered to seek solutions instead of giving up and giving in. Students who are taught 

in conflict resolution are more likely to face conflicts, use problem solving to negotiate 

solutions. They can benefit  from learning conflict resolution skills that will empower them, increase their confidence  in their ability to handle a situation and teach them how 

to respond assertively, particularly in cases of verbal bullying. Conflict resolution steps 

are begins by cooling down, describing the conflict including caused and effect, 

brainstorming solutions and trying the best solution. It is about communicating, listening 

and problem-solving techniques.  

vi. Exploring Ways to Deal with Bullies 

Students can be taught of several answers to the question of what should a victim does 

when being bullied?  The answers depend on the situation but the common ones are like 

tell a friend, or tell a teacher or tell parents, stay calm and walk away or standup straight 

and look the bully in the eye and say in a firm confident voice to leave you alone. Using 

peer mediators (impartial fellow students) another way to deal with bullies. Mediators are 

facilitators who do not take  sides. They will ask open-ended questions, encourage 

discussion, and guide students involved in the conflict to come up with and try their own 

solutions. Ideal mediators are  students who are calm, listen carefully, remain objective, 

avoid taking sides and be patient. However, peer mediation may not work if victims have 

low communication skills in the presence of bullies. 

vii. Effective Respond to Reports of Bullying 

Much bullying occurs where adults cannot see it and intervene as confessed by an ex 

student of a secondary school mentioned under introduction  and background above. 

Bullies do not want adult audiences. Therefore the school authorities  like the principal, 

his assistants, disciplinary teachers, counselors and other teachers rely on students for 

information about bullying that are not aware of. Students must be encouraged to come 

forth with information on bullying activities having code of behavior as mentioned earlier 

on and putting up notices saying that if you see or know or thought that someone is being 

bullied, report it to the school  authorities. No matter how much the school authority encourage students to report on bullying; reporting will stop if there is no quick and 

effective response. The students will lose trust in the authority to handle the menace.  

viii. Promoting Structured Activities 

As a result of the tragic case of bullying mentioned in the introduction and background 

section, the government i.e. the Ministry of Education immediately responded by setting 

up a hotline for the public to report bullying activities in schools through the country. To 

date 348 people has responded on issues about the misconduct of students and on school 

management as well proposals to overcome  the problem. One of the proposals received 

was to see how students could help their peers overcome problems they faced in school 

and one of the ways of fostering this relationship is through extra-curricular activities.  

The cabinet wants to place more emphasis on extra-curricular activities to curb 

indiscipline and promote national integration.  The Education Ministry is to reassess all 

activities and students' participation in uniformed bodies, clubs and societies and sports.  

There are 24 uniformed bodies, 120 clubs and societies and 30 sports and games 

registered with the ministry.   

Much bullying takes place during unstructured activities especially during recess 

time or waiting for the afternoon class session. Students can be encouraged to plan ahead 

for those times and tell their plans like playing a particular game. Try also to get those 

students who do not play games to have the habit of deciding in advance how they will 

spend unstructured time. If they have difficulty making plans, offer them suggestions. 

Since bullies tend to be older, stronger and more powerful than their victims, explore the 

possibility of assigning older and younger students to different playground areas. 

Getting students involve in services is  a form of involvement in structured 

activities. Examples of services are doing cleanliness work in a nearby villages, or 

helping out in the home for handicap children or home for the age. When students work 

together to reach a common goal especially when that goal  involves helping others they 

experience a sense of unity, personal worth and belonging. 

This has a bonding effect on the group as a whole. It also gives students an opportunity to observe and appreciate each others’ knowledge and skills. The benefits to students involved in voluntary service 

include learning to respect others, learning to get along with and relate to others, learning 

to understand people who are different from them and learning to be helpful and kind. 

Through involvement in structured activities and voluntary services which are 

group work, promotion of team work also takes place. Students who participate in group 

activities are more likely to have positive feelings about others.  They develop fewer 

biases and prejudices. Good team members accept each other as equals, support group’s 

goals and rules, participate in discussions and express their needs and feelings honestly, 

have positive attitude and disagree without being disagreeable.  

ix. Providing Effective Supervision 

One the contributing factors to the death of a form four student highlighted in the 

introduction and background section above is the lack of supervision or being vigilant by 

the school authority. An ex-school administrator pointed out that “leadership is very 

important for without good leaders, things at schools will spiral out of control and, in 

some instances, students may control the  school. Residential schoolteachers must be 

committed, must be proactive and not operate on a reactive basis. Teachers must make 

their presence felt and join in student activities. One of the steps is to monitor the 

wardens and ensure that they carry out their duties, especially on weekends and public 

holidays.”    

It is believed that some students become bullies because the supervision they get 

is minimal or nonexistent. And bullies tend  to do their bullying where adults can’t 

observe and intervene. Close supervision of students at schools may be one of the most 

effective bully prevention strategies available. It’s true that spending more time 

supervising students will increase teachers’ workload. But more positive supervision 

where you interact with students, suggest ways they can interact with each other and 

model kindness, acceptance, affirmation and getting along promotes positive behavior.  

x. Building Empathy and Understanding  

Empathy is the ability to identify with  and understand another  person’s feelings, 

situation, motives and concerns to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. Empathy is 

basic to positive relationships with friends, peers, family members and everyone else tht 

one encounters throughout his life. Often when students are not liked by others it’s 

because they lack empathy. It’s not enough  for students to empathize with people they 

have things in common with. They also need to empathize with people who are very 

different from them in their needs, experiences, points of view, life circumstances, 

beliefs, ethnic and cultural background, talents, abilities, accomplishments etc. They also 

need to be able to think about how other people might feel in response to specific events 

and circumstances. 

Understanding on why do bullies bully and why do victims put up with it is 

another strategy. There are no easy answers to these questions but some students bully 

because they love having power over other  people, because other people bully them, 

because they want attention, because they are jealous of other people and because they 

have their own problems. Some students are victims because they are different in some 

way, they do not know how to make friends, and they are socially awkward. Students can 

be invited to contribute their own reasons on why some students are bullies and why 

some are victims. With this information  it will help them to  understand why they and 

their classmates or schoolmates do some of the things they do. 

xi. Teaching Students to be Affirmative and Positive  

Everyone appreciates a compliment. Students especially enjoy knowing that their teacher 

thinks well of them. Take every opportunity  to say something positive to each of your 

students through out the day. Get students to know about what they like, what they are 

good at, their positive characteristics, what make them proud of themselves and what 

good things they would like other people to know about them. This information can be 

shared with other students to encourage them to recognize and acknowledge each other’s positive characteristics and notice similarities. When students affirm each other, everyone 

feels accepted, appreciated and valued. 

Positive thinking can be powerful especially positive thinking about ourselves and 

our abilities to solve problems, reach goals,  cope with hard times and accomplish what 

we set out to do. Positive self talk creates positive beliefs. Positive beliefs lead to positive 

attitudes and feelings about oneself and others. Positive attitudes and feelings promote 

positive behaviors.  

Conclusion 

Bullying is a serious problem that can dramatically affect the ability of students to 

progress academically and socially. A comprehensive intervention and prevention plan or 

program that involves all students, parents, and school staff is required to ensure that all 

students can learn in a safe and fear-free environment. Even the government, in the wake 

of public outcry on bullying in schools, is setting a task force to monitor and overcome 

discipline problems in schools.  The government is very serious in combating bullying 

problems and the education minister was quoted in a news report as follows: “Finally to 

those who prefer to bully rather than learn, I have this to say to you: ‘If I accept you as 

you are, I will make you worse; however if I treat you as though you are what you are 

capable of becoming, I will help you become that.' (Johann Wolfgang Goethe).”   

 The minister has since directed state education departments and schools to work 

hard to eliminate the bullying phenomenon in the country. In the coming months, schools 

will be under tremendous pressure to formulate, develop, implement and review 

strategies, program and plans to control bullying activities. There will be training courses, 

seminars, workshops and symposium on techniques, methods and tools to prevent 

bullying in schools. Therefore, this article offers to the schools and education authorities 

the various strategies and ideas to be adopted and adapted in carrying the directive from 

the Minister of Education to eliminate the menace of bullying in secondary schools.  

Adapted from Yahaya, Azizi and Ma'alip, Halimah Strategies To Eradicate Bullying In Secondary Schools. In: Seminar antarabangsa APECA 15 Biennial Conference-Workshop 2004 23-24 Nov. 2004 Eden Hotel. Johore Bahru.. (Unpublished)

POSTED BY CHIA YONG SIANG

Digital bullying (HL)

BULLYING is an age-old problem from time immemorial. As children, we first encounter bullies at school, and as grown ups, we see more varied forms of bullying, either in the workplace or on the roads.

In today's wired and wireless world, the bullies are fast embracing technological means to continue their intimidation of others. Now there are threats, gossips, humiliation or taunts that come through e-mail, instant messaging or even text messages over the handphone.

Welcome to the world of digital bullying. Although the cyberworld is usually perceived as a virtual environment, digital bullying is a real phenomenon that is growing exponentially.

For the past few years, bullying via text messaging and cell phone photos has been a concern in countries like Britain and Japan, where such technologies are in pervasive use. In extreme cases, some teenagers have committed suicide because they couldn't handle the taunts that come via digital bullying.

A study in Britain in 2004 by NCH, a children's charity, found that one in four students had been bullied online.

In the United States, the rising number of cases of cyber bullying has brought about changes in legislation in some states to help protect kids from becoming victims. Virginia, for example, has criminalised cyber bullying the minute it reaches a certain threshold.

The law there says: "A person is guilty of `harassment by computer' if, intending to intimidate or harass, he or she uses a computer or network to communicate obscene, vulgar, profane, lewd... or indecent language, or make a suggestion/proposal of an obscene nature, or threaten any illegal or immoral act."

It's been reported that harassment by computer in Virginia is punishable by up to a year in jail or a substantial fine.

On the home front, cases of digital bullying do not seem to be prevalent - we hardly see them being reported in the papers. However, this does not mean that it is non-existent.

Fourteen-year-old Jessica (not her real name) became a victim of digital bullying when she did not give in to a 19-year-old college boy's advances. The college boy took pictures of the teenager and threatened that he would post indecent pictures of her on the Internet. Although she did nothing indecent, her pictures were altered with the use of a photo-editing software to look otherwise.

Too afraid of what was to happen, Jessica informed her parents. But to avoid embarrassment for the family, her parents refrained from lodging a police report. Instead, they had a talk with the college boy to stop harassing their daughter. He stopped, but only after a few months later because he had found a new prey.

Another case concerns Leeza (not her real name), a 20-year-old who sings with a band in her neighbourhood. Her torment came via text messages to her handphone. Someone would always send her messages to ask her band to leave the neighbourhood and sing elsewhere, or face the "consequences". Instead of reporting the matter to the police, Leeza decided to change her handphone number, which she is still doing so up to this day.

Thus, it is good news that the local Government, via the Education Ministry, has launched Anti-Bullying Campaign 2006 in schools. The Ministry has set up an online Discipline Complaints System which allows anyone to lodge complaints about the bullying issue.

However, the schools, pupils and parents will also need to address the issue when the bullying takes place off the school property. While the posters for the nationwide campaign depict bullying aptly in the form of teasing, beating or even name calling, these forms are just the tip of the iceberg in the more complex world of modern-age bullying.

Hence, taking the lessons from cases of cyber bullying abroad, it would be best if some legislation is put in place in the country to help deter the problem from escalating. Perhaps the Education Ministry could look into developing a comprehensive policy on acceptable computer use, both on and off school property. The policy should list what constitutes cyber bullying and outline the consequences.

And for parents of young teens who are most susceptible to digital bullying, the experts advise is to "switch off the problem". This includes changing e-mail addresses or handphone numbers.

Copyright 2006

Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

adapted from New Straits Times, Mar 16 2006, by Prasanna raman

POSTED BY CHIA YONG SIANG

Definition of Bullying



Example of gossiping which more likely occur between girls.

Example of bullying (inflicting bodily harm) often happen between boys.

First and foremost, we must understand the meaning of bullying itself before we extend to any other parts. In fact, it's far from easy to define it due to everyone's satisfaction.

Could you differentiate the word “bully” and “bullying” exactly?

Bully - someone who is despicable (very unpleasant or evil) and who deserves to be punished. People often feel affronted when a young child is described in this way.



Bullying behaviour - individuals and groups who continually seek to hurt others who are less powerful than themselves (existence imbalance of power between the bully and the victim), which they may do by physical or verbal means or by deliberately (intentionally or on purpose) excluding them, especially if it keeps going on and on. It occurs among people of all ages, from preschool to old age. In this case, we just focused on school- bullying.

As an example, a group of basketball players in a small school, feeling threatened by a new student who transferred into the school and who has great athletic ability, take turns on different days hiding his books, his practice clothes, and his shoes. On game day, he finds his jersey in the urinal. In short, bullying involves both physical and psychological components.



Once we talked about "bullying", what's your imagination about it?

We must understand that a bully can be both boys and girls for them to reach their goals. In fact, boys tend to be bullied more than girls and also to engage more in physical bullying. Girls are more likely to engage in indirect forms of bullying such as name-calling, gossiping, threats to reveal secrets, taunting, and just to list a few.

What is the different between “bullying” and “teasing”?

As stated above, bullying as an exposure to long-term, repeated negative actions on the part of one or more persons. Whereas, teasing is considered to be less physical and more verbal than bullying, and occurs more frequently among early elementary-age children. Teasing may not be perceived as intimidating as bullying. However, the seeds of future bullying behaviours are contained in the disrespect and motives behind teasing if it is allowed to go unchallenged.
Example of teasing, several girls surround a new girl at the lunch table who just transferred into their school and ask her embarrassing questions about her clothes, including, “Does all your family get their clothes from the Army store?” and “I didn’t know people from your country knew how to wear pants!”.


By this definition, i hope that all of you could understand it and tell me if there's any mistake. Thank you!

Adapted from "Bullying from Both Sides: Strategic Interventions for Working with Bullies & Victims". 2006. Walter B. Roberts, JR. (Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press).

POSTED BY : KONG CHEAH SHIEN

Inside The Bullied Brain

Bullying can leave an indelible imprint on a teen’s brain at a time when it is still growing and developing. Being ostracized by one’s peers, it can lead to reduced connectivity in the brain and even sabotage the growth of new neurons.

Scientists began to look at the brains of adults who had been abused as children and realize that the damage wasn’t just emotional. Their brains had undergone long-term changes. Over the past two decades, neuroscientists have discovered that serious physical and sexual abuse during early childhood can cause short-circuit in a normal brain development.

Martin Teicher, a neuroscientist at McLean Hospital in Belmont, has been examining the effects of being verbally abused by a parent. In his study of more than 1,000 young adults, Teicher found that verbal abuse could be as damaging to psychological functioning as the physical kind. Teicher and  his colleagues did a research on young adults that varied

 in how many kinds of verbal harassment such as teasing, ridicule, criticism, screaming, and swearing.

What the scientists found was that kids who had been bullied reported more symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric disorders than the kids who hadn’t. In fact, emotional abuse from peers turned out to be as damaging to mental health as emotional abuse from parents.

Teicher then decided to scan the brains of 63 of his young adult subjects. Those who reported having been mistreated by their peers had observable abnormalities in a part of the brain known as the corpus callosum which is vital in visual processing, memory, and more. The neurons in their corpus callosums had less myelin sheath, a coating that speeds communication between the cells.

On the other hand, Tracy Vaillancourt, a psychologist at the University of Ottawa, has been following a group of 12-year-olds, including some who had a history of being victimized by their peers, and assessing their functioning every six months. Among other things, she has discovered that being tormented by other kids can recalibrate children’s levels of cortisol, a hormone pumped out by the body during times of stress.

In a 2008 paper published in the journal Aggressive Behavior, Vaillancourt demonstrated that boys who are occasionally bullied have higher levels of cortisol than their peers. Bullied girls, meanwhile, seem to have abnormally low levels of the hormone.

 This can cause the weakening of the immune system, and even worse, it can damage and even kill neurons in the hippocampus, potentially leading to memory problems that could make academics more difficult. 

Research into the neurological effects of bullying is still preliminary.. But these early findings suggest that bullying, even the verbal kind, is more similar to physical and sexual abuse than we might like to admit. No longer can we draw a clear line between the two kinds of mistreatment as they can both produce the same kind of trauma.

So, is bullying serious enough?

Adapted from an article by Emily Anthes from www.boston.com

Posted by Daniella Mokhtar