Don’t bully us to debt

Schoolyard heavies trigger huge financial impact

SCHOOL bullies will cost victims, their families and Australian taxpayers $2.4 billion in lost productivity and health expenses across the life of every graduating year group.

Groundbreaking research by Pricewaterhouse Coopers for the Alannah and Madeline Foundation has quantified the economic impact of bullying.

It reveals that by the time each student cohort completes their 13 years’ schooling, the costs of bullying will have already hit $525 million for that year.

This includes expenses relating to police involvement, mental health services, doctor’s visits and parents having to take time off work to care for traumatised children at home.

It also includes more than $300 million lost because school staff and principals in secondary schools are spending an average of 20 hours a week dealing with bullying issues and incidents.

More alarmingly, the report identifies that the economic consequences of bullying continue for decades after victims leave school.

“For a single cohort of students, these costs are estimated to be more than $1.9 billion over a 20-year period after they have left school, driven by the extent to which bullying impacts on productivity, leads to chronic health and wellbeing conditions, and impacts on family and community members through family violence,” the report says.

The report puts a price tag on the impacts of school bullying in the 20 years after graduation – adult mental health conditions will cost an extra $150 million, $156 million in adult obesity costs and $33.6 million for eating disorders.

Bullied students who skip school go on to earn $7000 less a year than others.

One in 10 female bullying victims suffer from eating disorders. Male student bullies are 2.5 times more likely to be a perpetrator of family violence in the future.

The Alannah and Madeline Foundation – which was set up in 1997 in memory of Alannah and Madeline Mikac, aged six and three, who were tragically killed with their mother and 32 others at Port Arthur – said more money must be spent on anti-bullying programs in schools.