Consequences of Bullying

Bullying is peer abuse, a complex behavior that can have devastating effects on children. The United Nations’ Study on Violence Against Children recognized that bullying is a global concern that can interfere with a child’s right to an education and negatively impact his or her health and emotional well-being. There are both short-term and long-term consequences for students who are involved, whether as the student who bullies, the student who is bullied, or the bystanders who see or know it is happening. It can impact their mental health, psychosocial functioning, their academic work, and their overall health. These consequences can continue on to adulthood.

Being bullied is related to lower self-esteem and self-worth. Children who are bullied are also more likely to report wanting to avoid school and have higher absenteeism rates. Bullying victimization is also associated with adverse mental health consequences including higher rates of depression, loneliness, anxiety, psychotic symptoms, self-injury, suicidal ideation, and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Since bullying is generally ongoing and often goes undetected, children who are bullied can develop symptoms of PTSD. Researchers found that for all bullied students in their study, 27.6% of boys and 40.5% of girls had PTSD scores within the clinical range. In addition, having been traumatized leads to an increased likelihood that a person will engage in bullying behavior and an increased likelihood that a person will be bullied.

Children who bully others are at a higher risk for alcoholism, substance abuse, antisocial personality disorders, school failure, and externalizing problems such as violence and delinquency . They also have a greater risk of experiencing psychosomatic problems and are more likely to fight, drink, and smoke than their non-bullying peers. Bullying may also be a collection of gateway behaviors that if not stopped, could become illegal anti-social behaviors in adulthood. Studies have shown that bullying at school was a strong predictor of later delinquency, violence, and aggression. Research conducted by Dan Olweus found that youth who bullied others in middle school were four times as likely to have three or more criminal convictions by age twenty-four.

There is also reason to be concerned about the bystanders, those who observe bullying behavior. Without intervention they may develop a decreased sense of individual responsibility or experience fear of retaliation if they get involved. They may have a heighted sense of anger, helplessness, and even guilt for not taking action.

Bullying can also contribute to a negative school climate which is associated with greater aggression and victimization. If bullying is pervasive in a school, it can create an environment of disrespect where students feel unsafe making it both physically and emotionally harder for them to learn. It could even escalate to a violation of civil rights when this type of climate creates a hostile environment.