Suicide risk ‘higher for adults bullied in their school days’
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CHILDREN who are bullied are at risk of depression and as adults report great “suicidal ideation”, a professor has told TDS.
Shelley Hymel from the University of British Columbia was speaking at an Oireachtas Committee on Education and said victims of bullying are more likely to drop out of school early.
She added: “Beyond bullies and their victims, children who witness bullying are also at risk, with evidence of greater feelings of helplessness, mental health difficulties and suicidal ideation.
“Bullying has been around for as long as anyone can remember, often seen as a rite of passage that makes kids tougher.
“Victims are at risk for depression, anxiety and poor self-worth, challenges that often continue into adulthood.
“Victims are also at risk for later aggression, conduct problems and self-harm.
“Understandably, they are more disengaged from school and more likely to be absent. Academic performance suffers and they are more likely to drop out of school early.”
The Oireachtas has heard from several stakeholders over a number of weeks on the impact of bullying on schoolchildren.
Ms Hymel said kids who bully others are also at risk for many of the same problems but especially for aggressive and anti-social behaviour and delinquency, as well as substance use, depression and anxiety.
She added: “Bullying is developmental. It increases over the primary years, reaches a peak around grades eight to 10 and declines somewhat thereafter.
“Bullying emerges within very complex social networks, with social status and power being key motivating factors.” She told TDS that educators need training to understand the group dynamics that underlie bullying and how they can support vulnerable students.
Until recently, teacher education programmes have not provided such training, focusing primarily on academics.
Ms Hymel said: “There is still no single programme that has been shown to stop school bullying and, overall, research shows that we are reducing bullying only by about 20%, with little evidence of effectiveness at the secondary level.
“To address bullying effectively then we need to provide educators with the training and skills to promote student social-emotional development and to create classrooms that support all students.
“Expanded training for school counsellors is also needed to enable them to undertake targeted interventions, along with better collaborative links with community-based mental
health supports.”