Bullying is a major problem suffered by various societies around the world, and it comes in multiple forms and forms and at different stages of life, and perhaps the most dangerous is bullying in schools and during childhood because of its profound health effects that may continue to advanced stages of life.

In a study published by the National Bullying Prevention Center in the United States, it was found that one out of every 5 students in America is exposed to bullying while studying, at a rate of 20.2%.

Anyone who was a victim of bullying as a child will understand the feelings of shame, inferiority and lack of self-confidence that these kinds of harsh experiences can bring.

And the consequences do not stop there, as recent scientific research and studies indicate that the effects of childhood bullying can last for decades, and long-term changes occur that can put us at risk of mental and physical illness.

These findings are leading an increasing number of educators to change their views of bullying, from something that is inevitable in the developmental stage to a form of violation of the human rights of children.

Louise Arsenault, professor of developmental psychology at King's College London in the United Kingdom, explains: "People used to think that bullying was a natural behaviour, and they thought that in some cases it could be a good thing because it builds personality... It took a long time for it to start. Researchers consider bullying to be really harmful.” In her statements to the BBC recently, she was included in a report prepared by British writer and researcher David Robson on the subject.

With this change of mindset, many researchers are now testing different anti-bullying schemes with some exciting new strategies to create a kinder school environment.

Bullying has long-term consequences on people's social lives as its victims find it difficult to make true friendships (pixels)

Mental health risk

There can be little doubt that bullying poses a serious risk to children's mental health in the short term, with its most prominent consequences being increased anxiety, depression, and irrational thinking.

While some of these symptoms may disappear naturally after the bullying stops, many victims still have a higher risk of developing serious mental illness in the future.

According to a research paper recently published in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry, a woman who was bullied as a child was 27 times more likely to develop panic disorder in her youth, while in men, bullying in childhood increased 18 times suicidal ideation.

"We found all of these strong and frequent associations across different samples," Arsenault says.

Bullying also has long-term consequences for people's social lives, as many victims find it difficult to form true friendships later in life, and are less likely to live with a partner for a long time, which is why divorce cases are common among victims, and one possibility that explains this is that they struggle with In order to trust the people around them.

In this context, Arsenault says: "Children who have been bullied, may interpret social relationships in a wrong way that threatens their future."

Finally, there are the academic and economic costs, as bullying harms victims’ grades in school and affects their educational attainment, which in turn reduces their future employment opportunities, which means they will be more likely to experience financial instability and unemployment in adulthood. .

Arsenault's research indicates that stress from bullying can negatively affect the body for decades after the event. By analyzing data from a long-term study that lasted 50 years, she found that repeated bullying between the ages of 7 and 11 years was associated with higher levels of inflammation and obesity. At the age of 45 years.

More importantly, this reason remained even after it was able to control other factors such as diet, physical activity and smoking, where the possibility of infection remained high to the point of threatening their immune system, because high and frequent inflammation contributes to the erosion of body organs, which leads to Serious conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

A large percentage of children bully their peers because of their family, according to some studies (Getty Images)

More than just a moral obligation

Taken together, these findings suggest that attempts to eradicate bullying are not just a moral imperative to alleviate children's immediate suffering, but will have long-term benefits for the health of the population as a whole.

At this point, writer David Robson reviews his experience with bullying: “When I was in school in the UK in the 1990s and early 21st century, there were no systematic campaigns to address the broader problem of bullying...teachers punished certain behaviors if they were observed, but the responsibility was It is the student's responsibility to report the issue, which means many cases have been ignored."

Some teachers were tacitly endorsing bullying by turning a blind eye to the obvious issues that were unfolding before their eyes, and other teachers - a rare but harmful minority - sided with bullies, Robson said.

Some schools also tolerated certain types of bullying because they reflected broader social prejudices.

For example, a large percentage of children of legally or socially accused mothers - in a longitudinal study - reported harassment or bullying because of their family, and many ethnic minority students are likely to be bullied and their schools turn a blind eye to this behavior, as the writer explained.

Fortunately, ongoing scientific research can provide some proven anti-bullying strategies.

Every adult in school needs some basic bullying training (Getty Images)

Oleoios anti-bullying program

One of the most widely tested programs is The Olweus Bullying Prevention, developed by the late Swedish-Norwegian psychologist Dan Olweus who led much of the early academic research on child abuse.

The program is based on the idea that individual cases of bullying are often the product of a broader culture that tolerates victimization and, as a result, attempts to remediate the entire school ecosystem so that bad behavior does not thrive in it.

Like many treatment methods, the Oleoios program begins with realizing and understanding the problem, which is why schools should conduct a survey to ask students questions about their experiences.

"Knowing what's going on in your building is really important, and it can guide your efforts to prevent bullying," says Susan Limber, a professor of developmental psychology at Clemson University in South Carolina.

The Oleoios program also encourages the school to set very clear expectations for acceptable behavior, and the consequences that will be taken if you break those rules.

Here, Limber says, “punishments should not come as a surprise to the child.” Adults should set positive role models that promote good behavior and have zero tolerance for any form of harm. They should also learn to recognize locations within the school where bullying is most likely to occur. and supervise them regularly.

“Every adult in the school needs some basic training about bullying, like the people who work in the cafeteria, bus drivers, and supervisors,” Limber explains.

At the classroom level, the children themselves should hold meetings to discuss the nature of bullying, and ways in which they can help victim students, the goal of all of this being to ensure that the anti-bullying message is embedded in the culture of the institution.

Limber tested this program in various places, including more than 200 schools in the US state of Pennsylvania, and the results indicate that the program led to a significant decrease in cases of bullying, reaching two thousand cases less than what prevailed over two years.

Importantly, researchers also saw changes in school students' general attitude toward bullying, including increased empathy for victims.

Finally, growth is rarely easy. Children and adolescents are exposed to peers from different social environments, but as adults we can teach children that certain types of behaviors and behaviors are never acceptable, and in any case we should not blame anyone but the bullies themselves, not the victims. That all of this would have a wide-ranging impact on the health and happiness of many generations to come.