MSN
04-24-07
The Bully Epidemic
Far from a benign rite of passage, bullying threatens the long-term health of
students across the country.
By Michele Santos
Thousands of elementary, middle and high school students in the United States
are bullied every year, usually because they are different in some way.
Sometimes the victims are teased, pushed around or hit because of their
ethnicity or sexual orientation. Others are harassed because they are poor, or
overweight, have a learning disability, or are shy.
No matter what the reason, bullying can have serious, long-term psychological
consequences. Constant bullying as a child may lead to suicidal tendencies later.
Studies of school shooters have shown that virtually all were continually teased
in school.
While clearly not everyone who is bullied becomes a murderer, school shootings
do show the danger posed by prevalent attitudes toward bullying. Assuming it is
a youth problem that will go away on its own, experts say, will only increase the
numbers of tortured teens capable of violence.
Virginia Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho was bullied in high school, former
classmates say, because of his race and accent. (Cho and his family were from
South Korea.)
It's perilous for our society to treat bullying as a normal part of growing up, says
Dr. Warren Blumenfeld, a professor at Iowa State University who travels
across the country giving talks about preventing bullying.
Parents and teachers often dismiss bullying incidents with a "boys will be boys,
girls will be girls" shrug, but "this is a societal toxic attitude that needs to be
changed," Blumenfeld says. "Bullying has profound consequences for those who
are bullied and those who do the bullying."
Blumenfeld says there's a "definite connection" between being a victim of bullying
and going on to commit acts of violence.
"When you feel you don't have any chances, you have nothing to lose,"
Blumenfeld says. "The perpetrators (of school shootings in recent years) felt that
there was no one out there for them."
Dr. Michele Borba, an author and educational psychologist who regularly
appears on "The Today Show," says the intensity of bullying has increased in
recent years.
According to Borba, the National Education Association estimates that 160,000
children skip school each day because they are afraid of being harassed or
victimized. One out of seven children has been bullied, she says.
"Bullying is far more intense, far more relentless and occurs at younger ages,"
than before, Borba says. A child who is constantly bullied often becomes a bully
after bottling up a dangerous amount of fury and resentment.
"They have so much anger built up—they've got that anger, long-term,
emotionally kicking on them," Borba says. "Some kids can blow it off. These kids
(the school shooters) don't have that resilience factor. You finally find that this kid
is a pressure cooker."
Suicide risk
Many children and teens who are cruelly bullied for years are at risk for
committing suicide, Blumenfeld says.
"There are serious psychological outcomes in those who have been bullied, from
depression to suicide attempts to social anxiety disorder," Blumenfeld says.
Blumenfeld says he was constantly bullied by his classmates because he is gay.
"I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder" as a result of being bullied,
Blumenfeld says. "I've been in therapy for 40 years."
Blumenfeld was able to build a successful life and academic career because of
the support from his parents: "My parents helped me in understanding that it
wasn't my problem. It was society's problem. For those young people who were
not as supported as I was, we see the suicides."
In the case of school shooters, Blumenfeld says, "We see people who were
crying for help, and then turned on others. Suicide and homicide are two sides of
the same coin."
Cyber bullies
Bullies now have a whole new array of ways to torment their victims. E-mail,
instant messaging, camera phones and Web sites have given school bullies—
particularly in middle school—ever more efficient ways to spread their cruel
words.
Blumenfeld is conducting a study on "cyber-bullying." Examples of cyber-bullying
would be if girls sent out a mass e-mail insulting another girl, or took pictures of
other girls in the locker room and posted them online or e-mailed them to other
people in the school. He calls these acts "cyberlence"—cyber violence.
One particularly mean creation is the "online voting booth," where teens at a
school post pictures and names of students and have other teens vote on who is
"the hottest, the ugliest, the biggest geek or the wimpiest fag," Blumenfeld says.
"They e-mail stories and caricatures, jokes ridiculing and mocking each other, or
telling who you slept with or what you're like in bed."
Junior highs and high schools have always been rife with mean-spirited gossip.
But 20 years ago a bully's options were limited; now, malicious gossip can
spread "to thousands of people, with one click on a computer," Blumenfeld says.
Hope for a solution
Iowa has had success with the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, Blumenfeld
says. This comprehensive program educates children, teachers, parents and
staff members to reduce bullying incidents and improve peer interactions at
schools. More than 12 countries have implemented the program.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health
Resources and Services Administration has a site called "Stop Bullying Now!"
with suggestions for parents, kids and teachers.
"The culture has to see bullying as a problem of society, not just a youthful
problem that will go away," Blumenfeld says. "We need to look at systemic
reasons why people are perpetrating violence."
LET'S HEAR IT: Has your child been bullied? Share your experiences here.
Michele Santos lives in Austin, Texas. She has written about architecture, real
estate, health, fitness and other lifestyle trends for more than 10 years. Her
articles appear in The Dallas Morning News, the Austin American-Statesman and
other publications.