The idea for this post came -as often- from a news item this morning: a recently published study found that bullying by siblings might have detrimental effects on children’s mental health – similar to that of bullying by peers in school. Also on the news today, Canadian leaders decided to make bullying a national agenda item. This decision was probably made more urgent after two recent suicides by Canadian teenagers that have been associated to bullying.
According to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children , almost half of children and young people say they have been bullied at school at some points in their lives, while 38% of young people reported cyber bullying. According to the WHO, bullying is a public health problem and there is a need for public health policies against bullying to be established.
How is bullying being handled where you live? Are you aware of any policies in place? How are children protected and is there somewhere they can turn to if they become victims of bullying? ***********************************************************************************************************
Some of our published papers on bullying:
- Time trends in bullying in 26 countries
- Overweight and obese male students appear to be more likely to carry weapons for defensive and offensive purposes, a behaviour mediated partially by bullying involvement (both as a perpetrator or as a victim).
- Experiences of several types of violence should be highlighted as factors associated with mental health problems in adolescents.
- Schools may have a small role in supporting children’s emotional well-being and ameliorate the presence of bullying.
