Almost half of young people who were bullied at school have experienced mental health issues as a result, including depression, self-harm and suicidal thoughts.
New research, published to mark Anti-Bullying Week 2015, also finds that 70 per cent of teachers feel ill-equipped to support students who are suffering from mental health problems as a result of being bullied.
At the same time, a separate longitudinal study has revealed that children with SEND, including those with Statements as well as those on School Action Plus and School Action, are more likely to have experienced bullying, including violence, threats and name-calling.
The first piece of research has been conducted by the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) and YoungMinds and involved 1,496 young people aged 16 to 25 as well as almost 200 teachers.
It shows that almost two-thirds of the young people were bullied while they were at school, with 44 per cent of the victims reporting that it had a negative impact on their mental health. This included issues such as anxiety, body image anxiety, depression, self-harm and having suicidal thoughts.
These findings come as mental health charity Mind revealed earlier this month that local authorities in England are spending an average of just one per cent of their public health budget on mental health (see http://www.sec-ed.co.uk/news/next-to-nothing-being-spent-on-mental-health-1).
Meanwhile, the latest findings from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, which is following 13,100 13 and 14-year-olds from 2013 to 2019 to learn about their experiences of life and secondary education, shows that reported incidents of bullying have fallen since the first study (conducted between 2004 and 2010).
In the current study, 40 per cent of the young people – who are now in year 11 – said they had been bullied in the last 12 months. This compares to 45 per cent in the first study.
However, the most recent findings show that eight per cent of the students (one in 10) are experiencing bullying on a daily basis, while a further nine per cent experience bullying between once a week and once a month.
The most common form of bullying was name-calling (face-to-face or via mobile phone or email) – experienced by 26 per cent of the young people – followed by exclusion from social groups or activities, reported by 18 per cent.
Sixteen per cent reported threats of violence, while 13 per cent had actually suffered violence. Two per cent of children had been robbed by other students – either for money or possessions.
Girls were more likely to have experienced name-calling and social exclusion, whereas boys were more likely to have experienced violence or threats of violence.
The findings also show that young people with SEND were more likely to have experienced all types of bullying.
During the past 12 months, 34 per cent of children with an SEN Statement or on School Action Plus said they had experienced name-calling, this compared to 29 per cent of children on School Action, and 26 per cent of children without any recorded SEN.
Robbery was experienced by six per cent of SEN Statemented children or those on School Action Plus, compared to three per cent (School Action) and two per cent (no SEN).
The pattern repeated itself for threats of violence (26 per cent, 21 per cent and 15 per cent) and actual violence (24 per cent, 18 per cent and 11 per cent).
The report states: “Young people with a SEN were more likely to have experienced all forms of bullying. Violence was a reasonably widespread problem for young people with a SEN. Around one quarter of young people with a Statement of SEN or SEN with School Action Plus experienced violence (either threats or actual violence).”
It continues: “Young people with a disability were slightly more likely to have experienced all forms of bullying compared to young people without a disability. Almost one third of young people with a disability experienced name-calling during the previous 12 months, 21 per cent had suffered from social exclusion, 20 per cent had been threatened with violence, and 18 per cent had experienced actual violence.”
The ABA’s findings, meanwhile, show that 57 per cent of the victims of bullying changed their behaviour as a result.
Many said they began to feel angry or became withdrawn. A third said they began to avoid school or college as a way of coping.
Furthermore, 40 per cent of the young people who were bullied told researchers that they felt having access to a supportive teacher trained in dealing with bullying would have made a difference.
However, the poll of teachers found that 70 per cent said there was inadequate support for schools working with children with mental health issues and over half wanted better training; 57 per cent of teachers said in-school counsellors would help schools to better support these vulnerable children.
One young person told researchers: “When I began high school, I got verbally abused every day and was even beaten up in school. It did lead to me developing severe mental health issues at the time, I was afraid of going to school, so had to move. It was a dark and scary time.”
Lauren Seager-Smith, the national coordinator for the ABA, said: “Bullying is a public health issue. We all need to play our part to stop bullying wherever and whenever it happens – whether it’s in school, the community or online – but it’s vital that we also invest in support for children and families impacted by bullying. We would like to see more training for teachers and health professionals, in-school counselling, and much needed funds for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.”
Sarah Brennan, CEO of YoungMinds, said: “We tend to think of bullying as a series of throwaway incidents in a child’s life but this survey shows how devastating and life-changing the experience of bullying can be. If it isn’t dealt with effectively it can lead to years of pain and suffering that go on long into adulthood.
“We need to skill-up teachers, parents and GPs to be able to respond to victims in ways that make them feel listened to, taken seriously and cared for. With the advent of social media bullying doesn’t stop when school ends it continues 24-hours-a-day, so we need to fully support young people both on and off-line to deal with the consequences and to enable them to recover and flourish.”
The Department for Education (DfE) welcomed the overall fall in reported incidents of bullying as shown by the longitudinal study, but said there was “still more to do”.
The DfE has recently launched a £2 million fund for projects to build schools’ knowledge and capacity to prevent and tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying and has also give £1.3 million to three anti-bullying organisations – the Diana Award, Kidscape and the National Children’s Bureau – to extend their work supporting schools to combat bullying.
Anti-Bullying Week is coordinated by the ABA and runs until tomorrow (Friday, November 20). For more information and resources, visit www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk or see #antibullyingweek and
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