BULLYING Some Causes and Effects - What Gives Rise to Bullying?

In many cases the bully's formative years are marred by poor parental example or by outright neglect.  Many bullies come from homes where the parents are cold or uninvolved or have, in effect, taught their children to use rage and violence to handle problems.  Children raised  in such an environment may not see their own verbal attacks and physical aggression as bullying;  they may even think that their behavior is normal and acceptable. 

One 16-year-old girl who had been bullied at home by  her stepfather and at school by fellow students  says that she became a bully herself when in the seventh grade.  She admits:  "Basically it was a lot of anger building up inside of me; I just picked on anybody and everybody.   Feeling pain is a big thing. Once you feel the pain, you want to dish it out."  While such physical aggression may not be typical of girl bullies, the anger behind it is.

Many schools bring together large numbers of students from different backgrounds, who have been reared in widely varying ways. Sadly, some children are aggressive because they have been taught at home that intimidating others and verbally abusing them  are the best means of getting their own way.

Unfortunately, such methods often seem to work. Shelley Hymel, associate educations dean at the University of British Columbia, Canada, has been studying child behavior for two decades.  She says:  "We've got kids  who are figuring out how to play the game and unfortunately, bullying works. They get what they want-the get power, status and attention."

Another factor that helps bullying to thrive is a lack of supervision.  Many victims feel that they have no place to turn-and the tragedy is that in most cases they are right. Debra Pepler, director of the LaMarsh Centre  for Research  on Violence and Conflict Resolution in Toronto's York University, studied students in a school yard situation and found that teachers detect and stop only about 4 percent of bullying incidents. 

Yet, Dr.Pepler  believes that intervention is crucial.  She says:  "Children are incapable of solving the problem because it is about power, and each time a bully picks on someone, the bully's power is enforced."

So why aren't more cases  of bullying reported?  Because victims of bullying  are convinced that if they report the problem, it will only get worse.  Thus, to some extent, many young people spend their school years in a permanent state of anxiety and insecurity. What are the effects of living that way?  

Next time: BULLYING Some Causes and Effects - Physical and Emotional Effects

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