Honoring mental health awareness month, I’d like to bring more attention to school bullying and why (and how) bullying affects mental health.
This article will cover the following:
- Bullying and mental health statistics
- Whether there is a link between bullying and mental health
- Do bullies have mental health problems?
- How you can spot the signs of struggling or depression in your child
Affects of Bullying on Mental Health
Before we get into the statistics, I’d first like to bring awareness over an article I saw over the weekend. It was a post on Facebook (no I don’t have Facebook but my partner does) posted by Network 24. The caption reads (translated): 2 Students of Driehoek High School Dies Within a Week of Each other.
Then there’s a big picture of the two beautiful young girls that had passed on. However, when trying to click on the link provided it takes you to the Network 24 page but you can’t read the article unless you pay for it.
I then tried to find more information on Google but I was unable to find any information on the deaths of these two young, beautiful students anywhere else. This angers me for 3 reasons:
- No other news outlet wrote about this or tried to bring awareness to what’s going on in schools
- The only way to know what’s going on in the world is by paying to know
- This is supposed to be a big story and it’s something that could have been prevented
Students Being Bullied In School
I read through the comments of the article and in most of the comments bullying was mentioned. That seemed to be the overall theme of the article.
Although I was unable to find exactly what had happened I was able to find a couple other articles online around school bullying and fatalities.
Bethany Thompson
This young girl took her life at 11 due to being bullied. She was Diagnosed with cancer at age 3 and was declared cancer-free since 2008.
However, the cancer treatment left visible scars that she carried on her face. As if surviving cancer was not enough for this young girl, she had to suffer through bullying at school.
This resulted in her taking her own life one day after school. On the day of the incident, she and her best friend were still handing out anti-bullying placates until they were stopped by school management. How tragic. They could have supported her and possibly saved a life.
Student of Tlotlisong Secondary School
A student took his own life due to being bullied by a teacher! This information was uncovered in a suicide letter that the deceased had written.
In the letter it was explained that the teacher mocked him for his home circumstances. The school is supposed to be a safe haven for students where teachers are to protect the children.
Who do you report bullying to if the person you have to report it to is also the one bullying you? How are children supposed to feel safe in such an environment?
Circumstances at home can be tough as it is especially if you’re labelled as “lower class” or “living in poverty”. How does a young person cope with that AND bullying from another adult?
And yet again there’s only one article I was able to find on this specific incident.
Riebeeckrand High School, Gauteng
Three students in less than 2 weeks succumbed to suicide after being victims of bullying. Two girls aged between 13 and 15, and a boy aged 16/17 (11th grade).
What was shocking to me about these articles was that they’re incredibly difficult to find. Furthermore, they speak about creating awareness but nowhere do they actually say what the plans of action are.
It’s like saying you’re going to reach a goal without mentioning the steps you’re going to take to reach them. The articles also lack informing parents on what they can do or the signs to look out for if their child(ren) is a victim of bullying.
It’s shocking to know that the only way to find more information or instances of something so big is if you pay for the information. How should we create more awareness around this topic if no one is able to find information on it.
Awareness cannot be created nor can the seriousness of it be understood if most people are unaware of the problem. I understand that news outlets need to make money, but they have to find other ways of doing so. Especially when there are lives at stake.
Bullying and It’s Affects on Mental Health and Other Statistics
To learn more on Cyberbullying please read my article All About Cyberbullying and How to Prevent it
For more on school bullying and what it looks like please have a look at my in-depth article What is a School Bully and How to Handle Them
Do Bullies Have Mental Health Problems?
A study done by Brown University suggested that mental health disorders could be a component to being a bully. They found the following:
- Bullies were more than twice as likely to experience anxiety, depression and ADD or ADHD
- They suffer from suicidal thoughts more than 3x as often as others who are not bullied or bullies
- Mental health problems may be a contributing factor of bullying or it could be a result of bullying
- More focus is placed on the victim rather than the bully themselves.
This suggests that society and schools are treating the symptoms of bullying rather than tackling the root cause of the problem.
There’s only so much that schools, parents and society can do to keep their children safe from bullies but that’s not enough. We see this in the statistics and the number of suicides due to bullying.
If bullying can be stopped at the root there would be no need for parents to be on suicide watch every day.
How to Spot Signs of Depression or Struggling in Your Child?
Depression and anxiety do not only stem from being bullied at school. It can be due to a range of other factors. However, there are signs that you can look out for as a parent or teacher:
- The child is becoming more anti-social and no longer engages with others
- Mood swings that include emotional outbursts, aggression and anger
- When the child starts teasing a younger sibling or aggravating pets / animals
- If there’s a regression in behavior i.e. bed wetting that hadn’t been a problem in a while
- Isolation or self-harm
- School marks are dropping
What are the Roles of the Parents?
There’s a lot that parents can do to foster a healthy environment at home. Having a healthy home environment will significantly decrease the chances of having a bully in the home:
- Talking is the number one act that parents can do with their children. Make open-communication a priority at home.
- Ensure the child that they can feel safe to talk about anything. If they say something you don’t like or disagree with don’t react in a negative manner that will scare them off. You want them to continue talking so that they can get their feelings off their chest. Always remain calm and respond in a rational, loving manner.
- Recognize and support the emotional needs of the child
- Don’t underestimate the importance of effective listening.
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