
A new study claims that bullied kids are more likely to resort to violence.
COUNCIL CHRONICLE – A new study claims that bullied kids are more likely to turn to violence. The research paper, published in the journal Pediatrics, reveals that kids who are bullied feel the need to defend themselves or even to get revenge on those who hurt them.
Bullied Kids, More Prone to Violence?
The authors of this new research used data from the CDC. This was collected from more than 15,000 students. The scientists observed that 20 percent of them were bullied children or teenagers. Also, the study team noted that 4 percent of the students mentioned that they brought weapons to school sometime in the last month. This nationwide study suggests that almost 200,000 bullied kids carried a knife or a gun to school over a period of just a month.
The authors mentioned that bullying was not the only thing which drove teens to violence. They discovered that a combination of three factors is responsible for their violent behavior. Injuries or physical threats from a classmate, skipping school because they felt unsafe there, and physical fights were the three risk factors that could prove to be fatal.
Previous research already showed that bullied kids are more likely to bring weapons to school, but this new analysis found other factors that, when combined with bullying, could lead to violence. If a bullied child also presents these three risk factors, the probability they would carry a weapon to school was of 46 percent.
The researchers also observed a gender discrepancy. Although girls were more likely to be bullied, boys that suffered the same treatment were three times more likely to carry arms to school. The study team mentioned that this problem needs to be addressed soon, until something worse happens. Bullying needs to be stopped by means that involve both the parents and the school. Bullied kids need to go to therapy to prevent them from resorting to violence.
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