Children’s perspective: Influence on both Victim, bystander and Bully
Children have a minimal amount of knowledge and understanding of what the term bullying actually is as they do not have the cognitive ability to process what is happening, let alone the capability to express their concerns to an adult. As a result, most individuals being bullied try to establish a relationship (friendship) with the one bullying them as a protective mechanism (Bosacki, Marini & Dane, 2007). Many children are also being bullied in their own homes, with psychologists recognizing and re-defining sibling rivalry as a form of bullying (Kalman, 2013). With this type of behavior at home seen as acceptable it creates a sense of acceptability by those being bullied at school to feel like it’s okay and normal to be treated in this manner, and treat others the same. Individuals fail to realize that violence within their family is not acceptable, so they choose to bully to feel good about themselves (Cheal, 2002) (Kalman, 2013)
Bullying has a negative effect on all parties involved, such as the bully, victim and bystanders with the potential to influence their behaviors.
Bullying has a negative effect on all parties involved, such as the bully, victim and bystanders with the potential to influence their behaviors.
The Victim
Children are deeply affected by bullying, which in every case is different but the influences it can have on an individual being bullied can be physically, emotionally and psychologically detrimental to ones well-being and can alter ones behavior and persona, all of which influences the family around them. The above video clip is from the perspective of Alex, a 12 year old boy who has been victimised at the hand of his peer bullying him. Alex details his fears about attending school, how he is being physically assaulted and humiliated and creating a feeling of wanting to become the bully himself. The National Centre against Bullying (NCAB) (2011) outlines the influence bullying can have on victims such as Alex, which can include an individual to:
Studies conducted on students in Years four and five regarding their insight on bullying, support the notion that children who are bullied display and feel a lack of confidence in trusting teachers and parents. This then deters students from involving adults on a consistent basis to help intervene and stop the victimization (Mishna, Pepler & Wiener, 2006). Students also fear that informing an adult of the bullying will only increase the harassment. For this reason, it is essential that children are well educated by teachers and parents to make sure they have the correct knowledge and understanding of what it means is to be bullied and how they can overcome this adversity on a personal level. In May 2013, the media published a story about a 11-year-old boy, Caine Smith details his experiences of being bullied, which included being choked, beaten, harassed and being called a long list of insulting names simply because he had two mums and long hair. Instead of hiding and becoming a victim of such vile behaviour, he stood up and did something about it. This is a truely inspirational story which shows that you do not have to settle at being a victim, you can make a stand and rise above the hate and enjoy living your life. |
The Bully
A "Bully" is an individual or group of people who uses strength or influence to harm or intimidate those who are weaker. One who engages in this reflects a likelihood of engaging in anti-social behaviour, criminal activity, substance abuse, an academic downfall as well as a likelihood of low achievements and participating in future child and spousal abuse (NCAB, 2011; Kidspot, 2013). Students who frequently bully others are more likely to:
Serious mental disorders such as anxiety disorders or antisocial personality disorder are potential affects bullying can have upon both the bully or bullies (Kidspot, 2013). Research has been conducted and published in JAMA Psychiatry, which dives into the long-term effects bullying has on those who partake in this behaviour. The study consisted of 1,400 children aged between 9-16, with follow up at age 26, finding that bullies demonstrate a 4-5 times increased risk for anti-social personality disorder (Bulman, 2013). This means, they have developed a lack of empathy, use lying more frequently and engage in criminal behaviour as they mature (Sourander, 2007). Earlier studies have stated that when bullies grow up they have less success in holding down a stable job, relationship issues, more problems with drug and alcohol abuse and are more likely to have a police record (Sourander, 2007). The Bystander Bullying situations generally include participants other than the bully and the victim. They also involve bystanders. These people are defined as those who watch or hear about bullying. A bystander has an important role, defendant on how they handle the situation, either by contributing to the act or helping to resolve the behaviour. Bystanders rarely play a completely neutral role, although in their minds they generally believe they do (Education Department Center, 2008). The Education Department Center (2008) outlines the roles a hurtful and helpful bystander plays when one is being bullied. A hurtful Bystander either:
A helpful Bystander:
Bystanders are also influenced by the act of bullying, with children feeling:
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'It’s OK, I’m sure they didn’t mean it in a hurtful way. Maybe tomorrow everything will be back the way it was, but what they didn’t know, was that this happened every single day. So again, I just started to isolate myself from everyone. I didn’t want to be around anyone, or talk to anyone." -Kayla Hurst, 2014