Bullying hurts both victims and perpetrators

May 07, 2019

New Delhi, May 07 (ANI): Bullying among adolescents hurts both the victims and the perpetrators, recent study suggests. Victims and their perpetrators both suffer as a result of these attacks. They are more inclined to consume alcohol and tobacco, are more likely to complain of psychosomatic problems and their chances of having problems with their social environment increase, too. As part of the study, a team of researchers compared data provided by the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO researchers had asked approximately 3,000 adolescents from each country about their lives as part of an extensive study conducted over a number of years. The data included information on any bullying the adolescents had experienced from other students, but also details of alcohol and tobacco consumption, psychosomatic complaints, how easy they found it to talk to their friends and how they viewed the social support of their classmates. The researchers looked at the responses from adolescents living in Germany, Greece and the USA and were collected during several different survey periods. The analysis revealed that adolescents' behaviour and problems are similar in all three countries, as approximately nine per cent of boys and girls had repeatedly experienced physical or psychological attacks from other students. The academics were surprised by the fact that perpetrators and victims both mentioned similar problems with their environments. Both groups found it difficult to talk to friends and classmates and they also both felt they had little support from their environment.