Effect of Bullying Essay

Article 5 – What are the Effects of Bullying?

The effects of bullying are far-reaching in the school and on the well being of young people. In

schools where bullying occurs children tend to feel anxious and worried, even those who

have not been directly victimized. There is a general school climate of tension and

intimidation and, not surprisingly, reduced engagement in learning across the whole school.

If students do not feel safe at school, it is not surprising they find it difficult to focus on

schoolwork. It is also more difficult for teachers who spend a great deal of their day focusing

on behavior management problems rather than their ‘real’ work of teaching and learning.

The victim, the teacher and the school all feel the effects of bullying.

The effects of bullying on victims

For the victims of bullying, effects can be severe. Large surveys of children and adults seem

to all suggest a number of serious effects of bullying. These include:

1. Bullying has a serious effect on school retention and further education. Students who

are bullied tend to leave school earlier, and many early school leavers mention bullying as the

main reason they left. Almost half of the victims say that bullying affected their plans for

further education.

2. Bullying has serious emotional consequences. In a large survey carried out in

Australia, almost half of the young people surveyed said they had thought about committing

suicide as a result of bullying, and 20 per cent have actually attempted suicide, some more

than once. This compares with 0.07% of the non-bullied group who contemplated suicide, and

0.03% who attempted it. Students who are bullied are also three times more likely to be at

risk of suffering depression.

3.People who are bullied are likely to have lower levels of self-esteem. Results of the

survey mentioned above show that one of the major effects of bullying is lower self-esteem.

Over 40 per cent of children who have been bullied reported low self-esteem, compared...