The impact of bullying on children

and
the interventions available to help those bullied

Introduction

Bullying, the central concept of the thesis, is described by the differentiations

required by the existing approaches in the specialized literature. The review of the
specificity of this form of violence and the explanation of the bullying phenomenon in
the school context in the following research underline the importance of the
consequences of such aggression on the students, the teachers and the school
climate, outline the specific modalities of school intervention. In this context, the
present study aims to bring a clear perspective of the dimension of bullying in
education sector, identifying the causes and determining factors.

Explaining the process by which this form of violence manifests itself at the
level of emotional, cognitive and behavioural life in children, I consider the problem
of bullying to be an important topic of reflection for all educational factors.

The research approaches have a strong ameliorative value, based on the

results obtained by formulating recommendations and suggestions for effective
strategies and policies, as well as directions for developing services to combat and
prevent bullying, in accordance with the specific needs of the age.

Literature review

Bullying is a phenomenon that was born once with the first groups of hominids
and that evolved culturally with the society.

The specialized literature that addresses the issue of bullying in schools,

notes that this is a current problem of international scope having serious implications
on the mental and social health of the individuals involved, as well and on their well-
being (Olweus, 1991; Swearer et al., 2003; Marsh et al., 2011 et al.), which can also
affect the social and school development of the children, being an indicator of social
exclusion (Due et al., 2005). Victims of this type of aggression are at increased risk
of developing anxiety, depression and even suicidal behaviour. (Kim et al., 2008).

It is common nowadays to hear about messages that have the strength to

destroy teenage dreams or careers. Perhaps, for our ancestors, it would have been
inconceivable that a simple sentence to be able to destroy a man, but for a century
where information is the engine of social progress, the most effective weapon
became, ironically, the word itself.

Although the phenomenon of bullying has accompanied as a shadow the man

in its evolution, paradoxically, it is difficult to differentiate from other forms of
aggression, being assimilated with violence physical or abuse.

The ethologist Konrad Lorenz considers aggression as the "instinctual

energy" accumulated over large periods of time that discharges according to the
conjunctural factors. Freud completes the concept by stating that this is "an obscure
force springing from within that tends to destroy the Self (which is called the "instinct
of death"), but for self-defence reasons, man points out the direction of destruction
("the instinct of life").

In the 70s of the last century, Dan Olweus, a Norwegian researcher,

published the first detailed documented book on bullying under the title "Aggression
in schools. Aggressors and victims” (1973). Thus, the first complete definition of the
term "bullying" characterizes the phenomenon as a negative (unpleasant, painful),
repeated behaviour of an individual or group, intentionally directed against a person
who has difficulty defending himself or herself, in order to destroy his or her
personality, diminishing self-esteem and minimizing the role in the social hierarchy.

The scientific merit of the Norwegian psychologist is to identify the specific

features of bullying, the term itself having an etymological history anchored in the
late medieval past. The first statements of the word "bully" appear at the end of the
sixteenth century, in German and Dutch, and the semantic explanation was, to the
surprise of linguistic researchers, a positive one: "lover", "friend". According to the
Oxford dictionary, "bully" meant a term of affection and familiarity, originally applied
regardless of sex. Later, it designated people treated with admiration: "good friend,
good colleague, gallant man." After the year 1600, the meaning of the word has
learned unfavourable nuances, a bully being a "noisy" person or "a protector for
prostitutes", approaching the present pejorative connotation. In 1780, the identified
definition captures the essential characteristics later stated by Dan Olweus: "the
most conqueror bully was the most inhuman enemy when death appeared before
him," according to Duncan Mariner's chronicles.

Regarding the circle of bullying from the angle of the victim, the supportive
presence is reduced, being represented by a possible defender who dislikes the
harassment but does not want to get involved and by a defender who, in addition to
the attitude against of aggression, he engages and defends the subject injured.  
From the inequality of the supporters of both sides of the bullying, one can
easily deduce that the "trophy" that decides the orientation of the others towards one
of the camps is the influence and the dominance over the harassed person that gets
the aggression. The real motive of the bullying is the ascendant that the aggressor
acquires by harassing the victim.

A report (2012) published by the National Bullying Prevention Center of the

PACER Institute shows that almost a third of schoolchildren face bullying every year,
that is, over 13 million students. Even considering the fact that sometimes rude or
malicious behaviour is wrongly classified as bullying, this phenomenon remains a
widespread problem among young school children. The ability to recognize bullying
in all its forms is essential to intervene quickly and to put an end to it.

Victims of bullying frequently experience anger, frustration, humiliation,

isolation, despair and suffer from physical injuries; they suffer more from
psychological and somatic disorders and also risks not being interested in school,
failing, losing self-esteem, being depressed, nervous, and even suicidal. (O 'Moore,
2003)

Methodology

The research aimed at how children and parents perceive bullying, their
attitudes and behaviours in different social contexts (at school, in groups of friends,
online), as well as measuring the incidence of bullying in these situations.

Exclusion from the group, social isolation, threat of physical violence and / or
humiliation, physical violence and destruction of personal property, ban on talking /
interacting with another colleague, spreading derogatory rumours are specific
bullying behaviours that children encounter frequently in the school environment.

Bullying research has generally been ruled by largescale cohort studies

focusing on the personality traits of bullies and victims. These studies focus on
bullying prevalence, risk and protective factors, and negative outcomes. A limitation
of this approach is that it does not explain why bullying happens. Qualitative
research can help shed light on these factors.

Harassing research has generally been ruled by largescale companion

examines concentrating on the character qualities of menaces and casualties. These
examinations center around tormenting commonness, chance and defensive factors,
and negative results. A confinement of this methodology is that it doesn't clarify why
harassing occurs. Subjective research can assist shed with lighting on these
variables.

Qualitative research on the other hand, in particular participatory research,

can help shed light on these factors by highlighting the complexities of the contextual
and relational aspects of bullying and the particular challenges associated with
addressing it. Patton et al. (2017) in their systematic review of qualitative methods
used in bullying research, found that the use of such methods can enhance
academic and practitioner understanding of bullying.

Keywords such as: bullying, victims, children, effects, statistics were used in
the research.

Discussion

The investigations introduced in this paper represent the large number of

observations supporting youngsters' understandings of what establishes tormenting,
both as far as the conduct and furthermore the effect that this conduct has on a
person. Findings from quantitative studies have demonstrated the differing
perceptions of bullying by adults and young people

Childhood bullying has serious effects on health, resulting in substantial costs

for individuals, their families and society at large.
 According to GOV UK, at the end of the year 2018, it was estimated that 17%
of children aged 10 to 15 in England were bullied in the previous 12 months in a way
that made them frightened or upset (95% confidence interval1 15% to 19%).

Respondents who said they had been bullied during that year were also
asked about the type of harassing they had encountered. in the last 12 months were
asked about the types of bullying they had experienced. In the year ending March
2018:

• 60% of the individuals who had been harassed said they had encountered
physical tormenting (this includes people physically harming or attempting to hurt
them, being pushed and threats to hurt them)

• 89% admitted they had experienced verbal bullying (this includes being
called names, sworn at, insulted or ignored or having rumours spread about them)

• 18% said they had endured theft or damage to their property (this includes
people stealing their money or belongings, damaging their belongings or being made
to give money).

Statistics show that children aged between 10 and 12 years were also more
likely to experience physical bullying. There is no significant difference by age for
other types of bullying.

The study also presents the frequency of the bullying according to the
answers of the respondents who had been

• 32% said they were bullied at least once a week.

• 12% said they were bullied once every two to four weeks.

• 26% said they were bullied less often (see figure 14).

In 2018, children were also asked if they had been bullied at school (including
on school grounds, school buses and school trips) and the results shows that

• 63% said that all of the bullying had taken place at school

• 23% said that some of the bullying had taken place at school

• 11% said that none of the bullying had taken place at school.
 All respondents to the survey (counting both the children who said they had
been bullied and those who said they hadn’t) were asked how well their school
managed the phenomenon of bullying. In March 2018, most of the children who
participated to the survey said that their school managed harassing very well (30%)
or quite well (41%). A few children thought that their school managed bullying not
very well (13%) or badly (4%). The ‘other’ group includes children who said that
bullying was a not a problem at their school (5%), don’t know (6%) and don’t want to
answer (less than 1%).

Children defined and described bullying in a variety and numerous ways.

Regardless of the differences, they shared similar stories about how they understand
bullying and the problems they face at school. "... And bullying can be when your
friends turn against you and you don't want to go to school anymore.” (child, 9, UK)
(ibid.)

Many harassed children keep the pain for themselves, suffering in silence,
and are hesitant to talk about their experiences with their parents or teachers,
because of the fear of reprisals or because of shame. Up to 50% of children admit
that they would rarely, or never, tell their parents, while somewhere in the range of
35% and 60% would not tell their teacher.

Although bullying behaviours were a primary consideration of young people’s

comprehension of harassing, many considered that the results related to harassing
in particular has an impact on mental health. In these examples, the points of interest
of the bullying event were superfluous to youngsters and the attention was on how
the on how the conduct was gotten by the beneficiary.

Conclusion

Many researchers have highlighted the impact negative in the short and long
term of bullying affecting both victims and perpetrators.

Sanders et al. (2004) provided a recapitulation of the multiple consequences

of bullying: peer rejection (Deater-Deckard, 2001), delinquent behaviour (Rigby &
Cox, 1996), crime (Eronet et al., 1987), mental disorders (Kumpulainen, Räsänen, &
Henttonen, 1999), subsequent violence in school (Galinsky & Salmond, 2002).
 Children who act as aggressors are more at risk large antisocial and
delinquent behaviour as adolescents and young people and to involvement in
criminal offenses as adults (Olweus, 1992).

Depression is viewed as the most known psychological health problem,

consequence of bullying (Kaltiala-Heinoet et al., 1999). Abused children are
disadvantaged, unhappy and suffers from self-esteem issues and self-confidence.
The negative consequences not only affect their mental health, but also their
academic results and may decrease their motivation to go to school and learning.

After over 35 years of research and response to bullying in school, the only
program prevention of evidence-based bullying, which uses measurable empirical
results, it is the original developed by Dan Olweus.
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