According to the World Health Organization, bullying is considered as a primary source of social, emotional, physical and intellectual impairment among children. Bullying is considered to have detrimental effects especially among children on ages between 9 to 18 years (Armitage, 2021). Bullying is described as the intentional infliction of psychological or bodily harm, which can include acts of violence such as kicking and hitting, as well as social exclusion, rumor-mongering, and teasing. Often, bullying affects relationships as victims lose power thus being vulnerable to psychological challenges. Childhood bullying has been associated with suicide, anxiety and depression in adulthood. Children who are frequently exposed to acts of bullying are likely to develop mental depression, have suicidal thoughts, become academically dwarf, drop-out of school, have physical health issues, become victimized and experience physical harm. The body of this essay will provide a detailed explanation of the above effects while following the topic sentence, evidence, evaluation and linking (TEEL) approach.
Children who are bullied may experience severe mental depression as a result. About 20% of bullied children develop depression or other mental health issues, either immediately after the incident or years afterwards, according to studies (Li & Shi, 2018). If compared to children who do not encounter bullying, those who do are more likely to develop depression as they grow older. It has been shown through research that the psychological repercussions of bullying on children can linger for decades after the event has ended, in some cases even up to 40 years afterwards (Li & Shi, 2018). It has been observed that cyberbullying causes more indicators of depression in children than any other form of bullying (Li & Shi, 2018). Long-lasting emotions of anger or sorrow and withdrawal from others are all symptoms of depression. Depression in children manifests itself in ways such as an inability to focus in class, and a lack of interest in hobbies at home. Apart from mental depression among the affected children, bullying may result into physical effects such as troubles in sleeping and lack of appetite.
In addition, bullying has a physical effect on the children once it occurs on them. Bullied children may lose their appetite, have trouble sleeping, and feel physically uncomfortable. A child’s health will be significantly impacted by this. Children are taught mantras like “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me” to use when confronting bullies (Huh et al., 2019). The truth is that words hurt just as much as rocks and sticks. People who have experienced bullying have said that it wounded them physically. They were said to be suffering from social agony. According to studies, social and physical pain share a brain region that relays information, hence they are related (Thornberg et al., 2020). Bullies’ negative physical repercussions go beyond simple discomfort. Children who have experienced bullying attempt to find methods to cope with the hurt, which leads them to make terrible choices. Those who are bullied are more likely to consume drugs and, in some cases, commit suicide (Huh et al., 2019). The physical impacts these children encounter are potentially fatal, and may result to school drop-outs among children.
Frequent exposure to bullying make children loose interest in education and eventually drop out of school. Research conducted by Armitage (2021) has linked indirect bullying in schools to diminished peer acceptance and social development in school which has been cited as the major cause of children drop out. School children are vulnerable to a wide range of forms of bullying, including physical assault, fights in the schoolyard, sexual and physical assault, and violence based on the victim’s gender. When children experience bullying at school, it erodes their confidence and diminishes their ability to learn and concentrate on their studies (Oliveira et al., 2018). At times, the prevalence and severity of bullying can be so extreme that it forces children to skip school, thus leading to loss of educational benefit for the individual and the society as a whole. Additionally, bullied children have trouble sleeping because they worry about returning to school the next day and being humiliated again. Because of this, they lose interest in school, which has a direct impact on how hard they try in their classes and how well they perform overall as shown below.
Children who have experienced bullying lag behind in class and have lower academic performance results. According to Riffle et al. (2021), bullied children fall six to nine months academically behind their non-bullied peers at school. Victimized children have been found to have higher rates of absenteeism and poorer rates of participation in school academic activities. Childhood academic struggles are a predictor of adversity in later life, including poor grades and possibly even abandonment of formal education (Tekel & Karadag, 2020). Regular bullying can cause emotional distress and make it difficult for a child to concentrate on schoolwork thus affecting their overall performance. Evidence suggests that bullied children perform the worst in academics, have a worse sense of academic self-efficacy, and have a diminished interest in and enjoyment of school (Tekel & Karadag, 2020). While studies had been conducted on the victims of bullying, it was discovered that bullies also performed worse academically than their counterparts who had not engaged in bullying (Riffle et al, 2021). Children physical health may suffer, and their grades may take a hit as a result of being victimized.
In addition, children who are bullied often end up being victims themselves. Recent meta-analysis by Hong et al. (2019), shows that bullied children are extremely distressed. Additionally, the difficulties they faced from within could function as both a cause and a result of their victimization cycle. Victimization of children can take many forms, including but not limited to physical abuse, peer victimization, assault, verbal abuse, and sexual abuse. Acts of exclusion or isolation are central to social victimization (Salmivalli & Peets, 2018). It typically manifests itself in the form of malicious talk, social exclusion, and the intentional weakening of otherwise strong social ties. Children who experience social victimization internalize the experience as painful in the same way that adults who experience physical victimization do. According to Salmivalli & Peets (2018), girls are more likely to be victims of social victimization than boys are, while both sexes are disproportionately victimized physically. There is evidence that child victims experience increased anxiety and emotional suffering as a result of being victims themselves. Just as victimization, bullying may result to another related effect which bring about suicidal thoughts.
Children who experience bullying develop suicide thoughts in their minds. Any form of bullying, including cyberbullying, physical bullying, social bullying, and emotional bullying, can lead to suicide (Chen et al., 2020). According to research by the World Health Organization (WHO), bullying is mostly to blame for suicide, which is currently the third largest cause of mortality among children and young adults. In addition, there are often 100 suicide attempts among children aged 19 for every suicidal act (Chen et al., 2020). The majority of the time, the bullied children suffer serious harm that they perceive as irreparable, leading them to conclude that death is the only option for them to solve their problems. Most children start having suicidal thoughts in response to such and turn to actually committing suicide in an effort to end the situation (Koyanagi et al., 2019). According to studies, bullying worsens depression and raises the chance of suicide for both the sufferer and the bully (Koyanagi et al., 2019). Children who are suicidal may stop communicating with others and lose interest in daily activities, which may result to physical health problems.
Children who experience bullying are at a higher risk of developing physical health problems later in life. According to research by Armitage (2021), the negative effects of bullying on the health of the one in five children who are bullied are evident. The detrimental effects of bullying on a victim’s physical health have been well-documented, and many studies have examined the mental health consequences. Numerous studies have examined the prevalence of grownup physical health problems that were first identified in childhood. Somatic sensations, inflammation, and cortisol dysregulation are all part of these health problems, as are the increased risks for developing serious diseases down the road (Schacter, 2021). Psychosomatic disorders, which include many documented cases of poor physical health, are thought to have their roots in emotional or psychological factors including stress and interpersonal conflict. These disorders affect a child after an incident of bully has happened to them.
Family and the entire community may be affected once a child is bullied. When the terms become opposite, the beliefs of social norms change, and the norms of society are tampered with. Once a child is subjected to bullying, the child becomes insecure around people. Others escape to places where they feel much more secure (Armitage, 2021). These places include towns and other residential away from home. They have to either steal or request from passing well-wishers to secure meals and shelters. The lifestyle of a child is also detached from the family due to harassment. The living standard of the child changes negatively in their current residents. Therefore, the future of the society is affected due to reducing in the number of quality children.
In conclusion, bullying can adversely affect children in a variety of aspects of their life ranging from their mental, physical, education wellbeing to long term effects. In a review, bullying may result into a large impact on a child’s mental health as it may cause depression, suicidal thoughts which may cause other effects such as dropping out of school. Additionally, affected children tend to suffer other forms of impacts such as lack of sleep, lack of appetite and poorly established social relationship. Based on the study, it can be deduced that bullying is a very serious challenge with many effects among children, and therefore there is need for urgent intervention to solve it. This study is significant as it will help the relevant policymakers deduce appropriate measures to combat the rampant bullying cases among children thereby eliminate the discussed effects.
References
Armitage, R. (2021). Bullying in children: impact on child health. BMJ paediatrics open, 5(1).
Chen, Y. L., Ho, H. Y., Hsiao, R. C., Lu, W. H., & Yen, C. F. (2020). Correlations between quality of life, school bullying, and suicide in adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(9), 32-62.
Hong, J. S., Espelage, D. L., & Rose, C. A. (2019). Bullying, peer victimization, and child and adolescent health: An introduction to the special issue. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28(9), 2329-2334.
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Koyanagi, A., Oh, H., Carvalho, A. F., Smith, L., Haro, J. M., Vancampfort, D., & DeVylder, J. E. (2019). Bullying victimization and suicide attempt among adolescents aged 12–15 years from 48 countries. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 58(9), 907-918.
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Riffle, L. N., Kelly, K. M., Demaray, M. L., Malecki, C. E., Santuzzi, A. M., Rodriguez-Harris, D. J., & Emmons, J. D. (2021). Associations among bullying role behaviors and academic performance over the course of an academic year for boys and girls. Journal of school psychology, 86(2), 49-63.
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