Teenagers who have suffered school harassment suffer from the consequences of this violence, psychological or physical, long after having experienced it. These are the results presented by the researchers from the universities of Lancaster (United Kingdom), Wollongong and Sydney (Australia) during the annual conference of the Royal Economic Society, which was held from April 15 to 17 in Coventry (United Kingdom).
“It was foreseeable that there would be consequences, but the percentages surprise me”, said Éric Morissette, an expert on the phenomenon at the Faculty of Education at the University of Montreal (Canada) who did not participate in the study. Interrogates by the Quebec daily The Presswhich relays the results, the professor says about the mental risk: “It’s not nothing, it’s major”.
A frequent phenomenon
Indeed, the fact of having suffered bullying at school increases the risk of being victim of mental illness at age 25 by 40%, research reveals. To achieve these results, almost 7,000 young British people aged 14 to 16 at the start of the study were regularly interviewed until they were 21 and then 25.
The survey shows first of all that school bullying is common, since almost half of the respondents said they had been victims of it. They reported being insulted, socially excluded, extorted, threatened with violence and even assaulted. Being bullied reduced their likelihood of performing well by 10%. Later still, this increased the probability of being unemployed at age 25 by about 35%. This data could be explained by feelings of personal efficacy and reduced self-esteem due to bullying.
Reduce forms of bullying at school
Scientists have also shown that, although all types of bullying have negative consequences, the persistent or violent harassment has even greater impacts. “A targeted approach to reducing more extreme forms of bullying may be warranted”they conclude.
“It confirms the importance of a school climate and a positive and caring schooladds Éric Morissette. The school, and particularly the secondary school, can be a protective factor to avoid the deterioration of situations related to mental health. »
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