Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Bullied Children at Greater Risk for Self-Harm

Children who are bullied are three times more likely than others to self-harm by the time they are 12 years old, according to a new study.

A team of researchers from the United States and the United Kingdom said its findings, published in the British Medical Journal, could help identify those at greatest risk for this type of behavior.

Examples of self-harming behaviors included cutting and biting arms, pulling out clumps of hair, head-banging and attempted suicide by strangulation, the study said.

The researchers examined sets of twins born between 1994 and 1995 in England and Wales. Six months before their 12th birthday, the twins' risk for self-harm was assessed. This information was available for 2,141 participants.

The investigators found that 237 of the children were the victims of bullies. Of these kids, 8 percent engaged in self-harm. In contrast, of the 1,904 children who had not been bullied, only 2 percent had self-harmed.

Among the bullied children, the study authors pointed out several factors that further increased their risk for self-harm, including:

• A family history of self-harming behavior
• Maltreatment
• Behavioral and emotional problems.

The researchers also noted in a journal news release that girls were more likely to self-harm than boys.

Source: U.S. News & World Report
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/04/27/bullied-children-at-greater-risk-for-self-harm-study-finds

Bully-Victims 3x More Likely to Have Suicidal Thoughts by Age 11

In a paper published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the researchers found children who are both victims and bullies ('bully-victims'), are at highly increased risk of considering suicide, or have planned and engaged in suicidal or self-harming behavior by 11-12 years of age. These increased odds were not explained by other factors family circumstances or pre-existing emotional problems.

The study used information collected from parents and teachers, as well as children, to see how common bullying or victim behavior was.

They found that, compared to children who were never bullied, 'bully-victims' were three times as likely to have suicidal thoughts, and that those who were bullied over a long period of time were six times more likely to consider suicide.

Those who bully others but never become victims (pure bullies) were also at increased risk for suicide thoughts and suicidal or self-harming behaviour but the findings were not as consistent.

Source: MedicalXpress
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-bullies-victims-suicidal-thoughts-age.html

Depressed Adolescents More Likely to be Bullied

A new study provides evidence that adolescents who suffer from depression are more likely to develop difficulty in peer relationships including being bullied at school.

It's often assumed that being bullied leads to psychological problems, such as depression, but the study doesn't support this line of thought.

"Often the assumption is that problematic peer relationships drive depression. We found that depression symptoms predicted negative peer relationships," said Karen Kochel, Arizona State University School of Social and Family Dynamics assistant research professor. "We examined the issue from both directions but found no evidence to suggest that peer relationships forecasted depression among this school-based sample of adolescents."

Being depressed in fourth grade predicted peer victimization in fifth grade and difficulty with peer acceptance in sixth grade, according to the research.

"Teachers, administrators and parents need to be aware of the signs and symptoms of depression and the possibility that depression is a risk factor for problematic peer relations," Kochel said.

The new research is published in the journal Child Development.

Source: MedicalXpress
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-adolescents-depression-bullied.html

Bullies Use Sexual Taunts to Hurt Teen Girls

In a sobering echo of earlier teen suicides, a 10-year-old Illinois girl took her life Nov. 11 after allegedly experiencing two years of bullying at school. And although Ashlynn Conner was just in fifth grade, her mother says her peers taunted her by calling her a slut.

As nonsensical as the word seems applied to a child, it's a common refrain for young teen and tween bullies, according to psychologist Maureen McHugh of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, who studies bullying, sexual harassment, and especially "slut-bashing," the practice of peers labeling other peers as dirty and promiscuous, oftentimes in the absence of any sexual activity at all on the part of the victim.

"Their peers know what kinds of words to use to hurt them," McHugh told LiveScience, adding that sexuality becomes an Achilles heel in the beginning of adolescence.

"Their sexuality is emerging," McHugh said. "It's a kind of vulnerability."

Reports of 10-year-old Connor being called a "slut" echo the story of Irish immigrant Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old who killed herself in 2010 after also allegedly suffering obscene taunts. Prince, witnesses said, had dated a popular upperclassman, allegedly bringing the wrath of other girls who wanted to put the teen in her place. Among the alleged taunts was the phrase "Irish slut."

Middle-school girls and young teens come under enormous pressure both to flaunt their sexuality and to keep it in bounds, McHugh said. As girls experiment with makeup and sexualized fashion, their peers police them, sometimes brutally.

"There is pressure to adopt a girly identity," McHugh said. "And there's monitoring of people wearing too much makeup or dressing too provocatively, so it's a weird fine line."

If they don't act sexual at all, they might be rejected, but when they act sexual, they get blasted," McHugh said. "And it's not just at that age, but in high school, and even in college."

Often, McHugh said, girls labeled "sluts" aren't even sexually active — bullies simply use the word because they know it works. "Both boys and girls participate and use the term 'slut' as a way of criticizing people they don't like or who they're mad at," she said.

Source: LiveScience
http://www.livescience.com/17211-teen-bullies-sexual-taunts.html

Bullying More Common In Person Than Online

A new study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project entitled Teens, Kindness and Cruelty on Social Networks confirms much of what we already know about cyberbullying. Most kids aren't bullied and most kids don't bully either online or off.

While most teens (88%) say they have witnessed or experienced "someone being mean or cruel online," the study concluded that "[m]ost American teens who use social media say that in their experience, people their age are mostly kind to one another on social network sites." Nearly seven in ten (69 percent) of teens said that peers are mostly kind while 20 percent said peers are mostly unkind with 11 percent saying, "it depends."

The numbers track very closely with previous scientific surveys on bullying and cyberbullying. The largest source of bullying (12 percent) was in person, followed by text messaging (9 percent). Eight percent said they had been bullied via email, a social networking site or instant messaging and 7 percent were bullied via voice calls on the phone. Girls are more likely to have experienced what we typically call "cyberbullying," while boys and girls are roughly equal when it comes to in person bullying.

Source: CNET News
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-57320587-238/online-bullying-still-way-less-common-than-in-real-life/

Another Teen Suicide Linked to Bullying

14-year old Jamey Rodemeyer was found dead after an apparent suicide. He left no note. But his parents say he was bullied for years in middle school.

"It was a constant taunting," said Tracy Rodemeyer, Jamey's mother. "The same people over and over."

The bullying got so bad the parents went to the school about it. They say the school tried to stop it and succeeded at times. Jamey also went through counseling and learned to deal with it better. But it was tough. The bullies were mean.

"People would say, you're like a girl or whatever and then even some of them would say what are you gay," said Tracy. "And he did not like when he was being called those things."

Tracy says Jamey questioned his sexuality and they talked about it openly as a family, and that for the last year, he was doing well.

Tim Rodemeyer, Jamey's father, said, "He fooled everybody. He put on a brave face and I wish he wouldn't have."

Tim and Tracy say they have a message for other parents:

"They have to teach their children to stand up for themselves and their friends and stop the bullies from bullying people," said Tim.

Source: WGRZ.com
http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/135364/1/Buffalo-Teen-Commits-Suicide-Parents-Say-He-was-Bullied

 

 

 

Boys Who Bully May Be More Likely to Become Abusive Men

Schoolyard bullies may be more likely to perpetrate physical or sexual abuse against their wives or partners when they grow up, according to a recent study in the Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine.

The study found that people who reported being frequent bullies as children were nearly four times as likely to have engaged in violent behavior toward their intimate partner within the previous year, compared with people who said they had never bullied other students during childhood.

The study also found some evidence that the victims of bullies were more likely to be violent with a partner or spouse, compared with their nonbullied peers.

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health asked the men about their histories of bullying and intimate partner violence and their own exposure to abuse as children. Overall, 16% of men reported having acted violently toward a romantic partner in the past year. Among these men, 38% reported having been frequent schoolyard bullies and 26% reported being infrequent bullies. (Overall, the researchers found that 16% had been frequent bullies, 25% were infrequent bullies.)

Both frequent and infrequent bullies were significantly more likely to also report intimate partner violence, compared with nonbullies. But that was not the only factor in the cycle of abuse: survey respondents who said they had witnessed abuse between their parents or violence in the community, or had been bullied themselves as kids also tended to be more likely to admit to abusing their partners in adulthood; however, when researchers adjusted for factors like age, race and education, that association was no longer significant. Still, it remains noteworthy because other research has shown similar links between victimization and later violence.

Source: Time
http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/15/boys-who-bully-may-be-more-likely-to-become-abusive-men/

Kids Who Bully Often Get Poor Sleep

Poor sleep may be a factor in aggressive behavior among kids, according to new research that found that children who bully other kids are more likely to be sleepy during the day.

In the study, researchers from the University of Michigan Medical School found that children with conduct problems at school were twice as likely to have sleep-disordered breathing problems or daytime sleepiness as other children who reported adequate amounts of sleep.

"What this study does is raise the possibility that poor sleep, from whatever cause, can indeed play into bullying or other aggressive behaviors -- a major problem that many schools are trying to address," Louise O'Brien, assistant professor in the University of Michigan's Sleep Disorders Center and the departments of neurology and oral and maxillofacial surgery, said in a university news release.

In examining elementary school students who had conduct problems, the researchers concluded that sleep-disordered breathing -- problems that occur during sleep, including snoring and obstructive sleep apnea, where the airway collapses -- could be the cause of their daytime sleepiness. Other reasons for kids' fatigue, they noted, could include a disorganized home environment or too much stimulation from technology, such as televisions, cellphones or computers in the bedroom.

Source: U.S. News & World Report
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/sleep/articles/2011/06/03/kids-who-bully-often-get-poor-sleep

Teen Social Climbers More Likely to Bully

Scientists have confirmed an axiom of teenage life: Kids intent on climbing the social ladder at school are more likely to pick on their fellow students.

The finding, reported in Tuesday's edition of the American Sociological Review, lends an air of authenticity to TV shows like "Gossip Girl" and the 2004 movie "Mean Girls." More importantly, it may suggest that efforts to combat bullying in schools should focus more closely on social hierarchies.

"By and large, status increases aggression," said sociologist Robert Faris of UC Davis, who led the study.

Faris and a colleague studied the relationships among 3,722 middle and high school students over the course of an academic year and found that the teenagers' propensity toward aggression rose along with their social status. Aggressive behavior peaked when students hit the 98th percentile for popularity, suggesting that they were working hard to claw their way to the very top.

However, those who were in the top 2% of a school's social hierarchy generally didn't harass their fellow students. At that point, they may have had little left to gain by being mean, and picking on others only made them seem insecure, Faris said.

In cases where aggression occurred, students classified the events as physical attacks, direct verbal harassment or indirect offenses like spreading rumors or ostracizing classmates.

Source: Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-mean-girls-20110208,0,2746523.story

Bullying Survey: Most Teens Have Hit Someone Out of Anger

Half of U.S. high schoolers say they have bullied or teased someone at least once in the past year, and nearly half say they have been bullied in that time, one of the largest studies ever on bullying finds.

The study surveyed 43,321 teens ages 15 to 18, from 78 public and 22 private schools. It finds 50% said they had "bullied, teased or taunted someone at least once," and 47% had been "bullied, teased or taunted in a way that seriously upset me at least once."

The survey findings are from the Ethics of American Youth Survey by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, a non-profit based in Los Angeles that has surveyed teens on conduct and behavior every two years since 1992. This is the first time it has reported on bullying.

It also found that in the past 12 months:
•52% of students have hit someone in anger.
•28% (37% of boys, 19% of girls) say it's OK to hit or threaten a person who angers them.

Source: USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/parenting-family/teen-ya/2010-10-26-bullyingONLINE26_ST_N.htm