Bullying at school is wreaking havoc on the health and well-being of children, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal Pediatrics. However, one in ten children today is the victim of bullying at school in France.
Mockery, harassment, physical assault, children are cruel. And their actions and nasty words have terrible effects on the health of their victims.
Researchers at the University of Warwick carried out a study on 6,796 10-year-old children who were victims of moral harassment or “bullying”. Two years later, the participants suffered from sleep disturbances, sleepwalking, nightmare, or fear of the dark.
A large-scale phenomenon
This new study confirms the results of a recent study carried out by King’s College London. This research revealed the ravages of bullying at school. Indeed, the tests carried out atadulthood show a greater tendency for depression and suicidal thoughts in adults who were bullied in their childhood. The latter were also more at risk of professional integration difficulties (more unemployment) and relational difficulties (family circle and reduced support).
“This phenomenon should be taken more seriously by the teaching staff as well as by the parents who still tend” to think that it is about a rite of passage, a simple hazing which does not last “, warns Dieter Wolke , psychiatrist and author of the study. “It’s tragic because we have the means to solve these problems but too few people are getting the help they need,” he says.
The results of these studies highlight the need to take into account this phenomenon.
Indeed, “one in seven children would be involved in violence at school, whether as aggressor or victim”, according to Dan Olweus who carried out a meta-analysis on this phenomenon in 2007. All the studies, carried out in Great Britain, Canada, Italy, Australia, Japan, give roughly the same figures.
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