Bullying is global (October 2018)

According to an article in this year’s October 6th Economist, children from ethnic minorities, short, obese, disabled, gay or have poor social skills are at higher risk of being bullied.

Bullying is a global phenomenon, which tends to peak in the early teenage years before tapering off.  Boys are slightly more likely to do this than girls and tend to bully both boys and girls.  They also are more likely to use hands and feet.  Girls tend to bully other girls, and prefer ‘relational’ bullying – by spreading false rumours or excluding them from social groups.

The extent of bulling varies between countries.  Though comparisons are problematical, as what defines ‘bullying’ varies from one country to another, it seems to be most common in parts of Africa.  In Sweden, according to a poll taken in 2014, only 11% of children reported being bullied in the past month.  In Britain, the rate is between a quarter and a third of children – that translates into a very large number of children!

Various approaches have been tried as part of an anti-bullying programme, some more successful than others.  Some approaches have been shown to lead to bad outcomes – ‘restorative’ methods that put the bully and victim together to bring an end to bulling may lead to re-traumatising the victim.  Punishments, like exclusion, may simply shift the problem elsewhere.

Bullied children everywhere risk long-term health effects.  The Economist quotes an Oxford graduate as saying he was “emotionally scarred for at least five years” following school bullying.  The author of this blog recently worked with a young woman who has struggled for ten years after early teenage bullying.  

As therapists, be wary of underestimating the devastating effects of bullying.  Most victims, in my experience, carry a heavy load of shame, which is often a very difficult thing to shift.