Effects of Bullying

Alongside being disconnected with the people around him, a bullied child may find it difficult to work Research experts note that victims of bullying at young age had difficulty holding on to meaningful relationships such as marriage, friendships and closer ties with their parents when they grow up. A bullied child can feel that he may not gain anything from building new social relationships because of negative relationships back when he was still a child. They also find it hard to trust others, since they always think that other people might harm them or abuse them.

Media reports often link bullying with suicide. However, most youth who are bullied do not have thoughts of suicide or engage in suicidal behaviors.

Being a victim of bullying is very traumatic. It is an event in a specific person’s life that is life-threatening which seriously puts at risk the emotional well-being of an individual. Psychological trauma is a kind of damage to the mind which develops as a consequence of a traumatic situation. And as soon as trauma triggers post traumatic stress disorder, the injury may possibly include irregularities within the brain which actually affects a person’s reaction to future stress.

The experience of being bullied can end up causing lasting damage to victims. This is both self-evident, and also supported by an increasing body of research. It is not necessary to be physically harmed in order to suffer lasting harm.

Students who frequently bully others are more likely to:

-feel disconnected from school and dislike school
-get into fights, vandalise property and leave school early.

In addition, recent Victorian research has shown that bullying perpetration in Year 10 is associated with an increased likelihood of theft, violent behaviour and binge drinking.

They tied me to my bike with a rope and pushed the bike and let it go. I cut my face and my leg. They stood there laughing at me Sophie, 14