Findings: Bullying Leads to Future Health Problems

For a subject that has quieted down for a while, there is new evidence that those who are "bullied by their peers actually suffer from worse long-term mental health effects than children who are maltreated by adults." It makes sense to me. Your parents are supposed to be on your back to make you a better person. Your friends, or acquaintances, are supposed to treat you like one of them. When they resort to bullying the bullied kid probably doesn't understand why his or her coequal is doing this. A study from The Lancet Psychiatry came up with the conclusion and the findings were a surprise. Their scientific discovery showed that since the children spent more time with other kids than their parents, the negative results are more pronounced. Additional results showed kids mistreated by adults were more likely to be bullied. The researchers compare bullying to the victim to being a caged animal with nowhere to escape, with the repetitive nature of the act being the most harmful part. The answer, they say, is to stop it in the schools where most of it originates. If parents suspect bullying, they should talk to their kids immediately, then contact school officials.