Article by Guest Blogger, Kimberly Burkhart, Ph.D.
Bullying is a relationship-based form of aggressive
behavior, which involves the use of repeated intentional acts to humiliate,
dominate, and oppress others. There are
four types of bullying that are most common among children and
adolescents: Verbal, physical, relational/social,
and electronic.
The 2009 Youth Risk
Behavior Survey indicated that 20% of students had experienced some form of
bullying in the previous 12 months.
Moreover, research suggests that 10-40% of youth reported being victims
of some form of electronic bullying.
Bullying is associated with increases in suicide risk, depression,
irritability, anxiety, sleeping difficulties, somatic problems, violent
behaviors, and higher rates of school absenteeism among victims.
Children who have special healthcare needs,
specific language impairment, learning disabilities, pervasive developmental
disorders, co-morbid psychiatric problems (internalizing and externalizing
disorders), and those who have identified or who are perceived as being part of
the LGBTQ community are more likely to be the victim of bullying.
Some signs that a child may be bullied
include unexplainable injuries, destroyed property, changes in eating habits,
decline in academic performance, decreased self-esteem, avoidance of social
situations, and engaging in self-destructive behavior.
Some signs that a child may be bullying
others include getting into physical or verbal fights, acquiring new belongings
that are unexplainable, increasing aggressiveness and competitiveness, and
blaming others for his/her mistakes.
For
more information on how to prevent or respond to bullying, please consult www.stopbullying.gov.
Kimberly Burkhart, Ph.D. is a Clinical Child Psychology
Fellow at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
She is the Chair of the Ohio Psychological Association’s Bullying
Prevention Task Force.
