Effect of School Bullying on Children (Essay Sample)

Effect of School Bullying on Children

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Effect of school bullying on children

School bullying refers to hostile treatment, repetition, acts of provocation, and power imbalance in educational institutions. These actions affect the victims, the oppressors, and the observers. Schools should strive to notice any warning signs and then create programs that can protect the victims (Smokowski & Kopasz, 2005). The following discussions highlight the effects of school bullying on children.

Bullied children suffer from negative school, mental, and physical health effects. Owing to the violence they experience, the victims of school bullying become antisocial as they lose trust in their environment, including on their peers, teachers, siblings, and parents. They blame not only their oppressors but those who fail to protect them from the violence, including their tutors and parents (Smokowski & Kopasz, 2005). Additionally, bullied develop depression and anxiety and become lonely and sad. Also, these victims of violence in schools begin to have difficulties with sleep and eating. Again, they lose interest in the activities they once enjoyed, including sports and entertainment (Swearer, Espelage, Vaillancourt, & Hymel, 2010).

Bullied children also tend to post higher rates of absenteeism, drop out, and low academic performance. As a result of the fear instilled in them by their oppressors, these children lose concentration in class and are also likely to suffer reduced fascination in school and academics (Swearer et al., 2010). Parents and teachers need to keenly pay attention to these changes to intervene before the situation gets out of control (Smokowski & Kopasz, 2005).
The perpetrators of school bullying suffer various adverse consequences, as well. They are likelier to adopt violence as a trait in their adolescent and adult lives. They register high cases of interpersonal conflicts and are more inclined to vandalize property in their later life (Swearer et al., 2010). Also, the academic performance of the bullies drops and are likely to drop out of school. Additionally, bullies get into drugs and alcohol abuse, early practice of wild sex, and are expected to exercise domestic violence on their spouses as adults.