What Is Bullying
The Centres for Disease Control & Prevention defines bullying as “unwanted, aggressive behaviour among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. Bullying behaviour is often repeated, or has the potential to be repeated by children over time.
The act of bullying isn’t favourable to the victim and seeks to harm/hurt and damage the self-esteem of its victim. It is not receptive to the victim.
More so, bullying occurs when one party feels he/she is in a power position – which could be as a result of size, age, the number of friends, popularity e.t.c compared to the victim who may be smaller, have fewer or no friends, less smart in class, shy and not outspoken.
It could also be the other way round as bullies could even be quietly inflicting pain on others. In this article, I will be discussing the effects of bullying on a child’s mental health.
Mental health
Mental health is a level of psychological well-being or an absence of mental illness – the state of someone who is “functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioural adjustment”- Wikipedia
It refers to the wellbeing of our emotions and cognition.
It is the wellness of the mind.
Mental health is our ability to find a balance between our daily activities and psychological needs.
According to Medilexicon’s medical dictionary, mental health is:
“Emotional, behavioural, and social maturity or normality; the absence of a mental or behavioural disorder; a state of psychological well-being in which one has achieved a satisfactory integration of one’s instinctual drives acceptable to both oneself and one’s social milieu; an appropriate balance of love, work, and leisure pursuits.”
A lot of things can lead to the deterioration of our mental health, such as depression, anxiety, loss, drug abuse and a lot of other factors.
Child
A child refers to any young person below the age of puberty or below the legal age of maturity.
Effects of bullying on a child’s mental health.
Bullying of children can occur anywhere, at home, in places of worship, and most predominantly in school. It could also come from anyone, adults, older children, school mates or peers. It happens either physically or virtually i.e cyberbullying.
Also, there are ways in which bullying can affect the mental health of a child. An important fact that people often miss is that the victim is not the only person affected; even the bullies are affected by their acts.
The act of bullying can cause physical injury, emotional damage, social problems and even death. The results of bullying on children are such that we can observe in the short term and long term.
Short term effects include;
- Decline in academic performance of any child being bullied.
- Headaches
- The child may become withdrawn and quiet.
- Difficulty in eating.
- Become unable to enjoy activities they previously enjoyed.
- The child may also become aggressive and easily agitated
- The victim of bullying will become scared and live in fear which leads to the long term effects of bullying
Long term effects include;
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Damage to self-esteem
- And it could lead to suicide.
Effects of Bullying on Mental Health of Bullies
- Children and adolescents who are bullies are also affected by their acts. They may grow into adults who have communication problems and social issues as they want to take everything by force (dysfunctional adults)
- Children who are bullies may be at increased risk of substance use
- The repeated act of bullying others can make the bully become violent to others later in life
- Bullies may experience depression
- However, the most serious effect is on those who are victims of bullying and become bullies themselves. They are at a greater risk of mood disorders, behavioural and mental problems. The behavioural problems include: Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
The Ways By Which Bullying Can be curtailed Are:
Communication: as a parent, although you may fear that your child/children could be victims of bullying; you should also be careful that your children do not become bullies. Communicate with them, watch their activities and tell them when they err with relationships.
Report to authorities: if you notice that a child you know is being bullied, you should report to the appropriate authorities that can take action.
Teaching children to stand up for each other: if a child is being bullied, rather than stare they should do something, call an adult, scream…. to stop the action.
Seeking help: if you think a child in your care is being bullied, let them see a therapist, that is after you’ve done something to stop the sadist act.
-Eval Emori