- NEW YORK (Reuters
Health) - Victims of bullying feel more depressed, anxious and socially
isolated than their classmates, while the bullies are often seen as "cool,"
according to a study released Monday.
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- The findings, say experts, underscore the need to address
bullying by changing its social acceptance.
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- In the study, researchers analyzed peer reports of who
bullies and who is victimized, self-reports of psychological distress and
peer and teacher reports of "adjustment" problems. The study
included 11 middle schools in the Los Angeles area with large minority
populations.
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- They found that nearly one-quarter of the 1985 students
were involved in bullying in some way. Seven percent were perpetrators,
based on what they, their classmates and their teachers said. Nine percent
were victims of bullying, and six percent were both perpetrators and victims.
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- On surveys of psychological distress, victims showed
the highest levels of depression, social anxiety and loneliness of all
students. Kids deemed bullies, on the other hand, were "psychologically
stronger" than their classmates, including those not involved in bullying
at all. Bullies also enjoyed the highest social status in school.
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- There are a number of school programs that take on bullying
by trying to boost the self-esteem of the perpetrators, the study's lead
author, Dr. Jaana Juvonen, told Reuters Health.
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- "Instead," she said, "we should be concerned
about the popularity of bullies and how to change the peer culture that
maintains or encourages bullying."
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- Juvonen and her colleagues at the University of California
Los Angeles report the findings in the December issue of the medical journal
Pediatrics.
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- According to the researchers, some past studies that
have relied on students to identify themselves as bullies or victims have
suggested both groups share similar problems, such as depression. In this
study, where classmates' and teachers' reports were included, bullies turned
out to have the least psychological distress.
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- In contrast, victims tended to suffer emotionally and
were ostracized by their classmates. Those considered both a bully and
victim seemed to fare the worst-being the most ostracized, the most likely
to have conduct problems, and the least likely to be engaged in school.
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- Dr. Howard Spivak of Tufts New England Medical Center
in Boston agreed that the findings show the importance of changing the
"social norms" that view bullying as part of growing up.
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- That will take comprehensive school-based programs, starting
early in elementary school, aimed at "devaluing" bullying, he
told Reuters Health.
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- In an editorial published with the report, Spivak points
to a bullying-prevention project begun in Norway by Dr. Dan Olweus, whose
methods have been shown to cut bullying in schools by about half. The approach
uses, among other things, classroom activities aimed at changing students'
attitudes about bullying, and gets parents involved in the process.
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- Some schools in the U.S. are shaping programs based on
this model, including one Juvonen helped develop at a Los Angeles elementary
school. Spivak said the problem of bullying is being "elevated in
importance," but U.S. schools are still far behind those in some other
countries when it comes to addressing the problem.
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- SOURCE: Pediatrics, December 2003.
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