New app gives victims of abuse a support line
Effects of school bullying can last a lifetime and early childhood intervention may help tackle it, writes Marchelle Abrahams
COUNTLESS studies undertaken have shown the psychological effects bullying has on those involved. But what about the physical damage? A study led by the University of Pittsburgh recently found that being bullied at school could affect you for life. The study sought to focus on the impact on physical health as well as mental health and found that victims are less likely to succeed and more likely to suffer stress as adults.
And it’s not just those being bullied – it also found that the antagonist remains more aggressive and hostile in their early thirties.
A review published in the journal Pediatrics also found a link between bullying and physical problems brought on by trauma. These manifested itself in the form of headaches and stomach cramps.
Child rights advocate Joan van Niekerk agrees: “Severe stress resulting from bullying at home, school or other settings (eg sports club) can affect sleep, appetite and this impacts on physical wellness and development.”
Van Niekerk has also observed that “there is both a direct and indirect impact on physical and mental and emotional health; and on a child’s ability to develop appropriate social relationships.”
This carries onto adulthood with Van Niekerk saying she has seen adults who have been affected by bullying.
“Often bullied children as they grow develop bullying behaviour themselves and this pattern follows into adulthood. This is why it is so important for helping responses to include both the victim and the bully,” she says.
The numbers don’t lie: according to the results of a 2014 survey, about 58% of South African school children were victims of bullying.
But we don’t need stats to show that our nation is in the grip of a bullying scourge.
If anything, the study shows that intervention has to be done on a school level.
Marc Hardwick, director of The Guardian Group child investigation company in Durban, has come up with an ingenious way of reporting abuse at schools via anonymous channels.
The Guardian Schools app, the first of its kind in the world, was specifically created for schools to give children a safe, instant and anonymous tool to report abuse. “This is extremely important to us, as the power of this app is ensuring the anonymity of the reporter,” Hardwick told the Daily News.
Download the Guardian Schools app: http://theguardian.co.za/
Shake For Help: https:// cafebazaar.ir/app/com.shakeforhelp/?l=en
Childline South Africa: http:// www.childlinesa.org.za/