Bullying is a terrible event that takes place in many children's lives, but now scientists realize how serious the consequences can be. Children who have been bullied in elementary school and even through high school have a higher chance of experiencing depression-like symptoms and low self-esteem. Physical activities, even as simple as walking or running, can be hard for the victim as well. Laura Bogart, PhD, from Boston Children's Division of General Pediatrics and her team of scientists have put together a study including about 4,300 students from elementary to high school. Their results show that bullying at any age is associated with worse mental and physical health, which shows the importance of bullying intervention because it can help kids become healthier.
The health of the younger generations is very important for the world to run efficiently, so action against bullying is crucial for the continuation of advancements in society. Bullying obviously ruins children's social skills, but bullying is now a health related issue that affects mental and physical well-being. I think this is a very important topic because we can still make a difference. Society can still stand up and say bullying is wrong, and this can help the younger generations continue to stay healthy.
NOS Themes:
Science is collaborative
Science is based on evidence
Link to the Article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140217085913.htm
This subject is hard to talk about, but you're right, it's very important. When I read this blog post, I wanted to find out more about the consequences of bullying. In addition to the mental issues you listed, I found that bullying increases risk of loneliness, lack of sleep and food, loss of interest in activities, and much more. Also, in some cases, students who are bullied have low GPA's, do not participate in school activities, avoid homework, and even drop out.
ReplyDeleteI was also interested in the effects of bullying to the bystanders. The people who watch others get bullied and don't say anything are at higher risks of increasing drug use and alcohol consumption. Some also have mental illnesses like stress, anxiety, or depression.
Link: http://www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/effects/#bullied
Information such as this article should be shared with more people. We as peers, friends, and role models need to realize the huge impact that bullying has on everyone. One Nature of Science Theme that I think you should add is "The person's view and experience can influence the data." The people who know the most about bullying are those who are bullied themselves. Their experience with being bullied is what adds to all of these studies that psychologists and schools are doing to prevent bullying from happening.
ReplyDeleteThis article talks about some very important issues. More people need to understand the long term effects that bullying has on people. I was interested, so I looked up some more information on the effects of bullying and found that it can lead to bad grades and often in severe cases for kids to drop out of school. More needs to be done for bully prevention because if it continues it will have effects on our society.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the most powerful articles I've read on the websites so far, and I think that bullying is an issue thats often focused on too much in school and not focused enough. The thing that's interesting is that bullying is such a broad term, and can be so hurtful in many different ways. I'll link to an article at the end of this comment, but it talked about how bullying can be extremely subtle, and how many schools consider it to be the stereotypical "Lunch money on the playground bullying". Bullying can cause pshycological damage to children for years to come, and schools need to realize that sometimes, there are other situations than just fighting and cyberbullying.
ReplyDeleteLink to Article: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200910/big-bad-bully