My Kid is Being Bullied - How Will This Impact Their Ability to Learn?
Imagine walking through the same hallway every day, knowing that each step is moving you closer to being pushed, hit, insulted, or mocked. Imagine getting home each afternoon, hoping for a few hours of peace - only instead, you open your phone to find humiliating posts about you spreading across social media. Imagine that despite these daily threats, you’re expected to focus, learn, plan your future, and excel academically.
Today’s parents and teachers take bullying more seriously than ever, as we’ve witnessed a drastic rise in depression & self-harm among kids since the early 2000’s. As we continue to build bullying awareness, it’s important to understand how bullying affects a student’s ability to learn.
So what do we know about the effects of bullying on learning?:
1. Chronic absenteeism
On any given school day, an estimated 160,000 American kids are absent to avoid cruel treatment from bullies. Kids who are targeted by bullies often skip school excessively and are consequently unable to learn new material, stay on top of assignments, and perform well on tests. This contributes to bullied students often receiving poor grades and being at heightened risk for dropping out of school.
2. Brain changes
Research indicates that the brains of bullied kids may experience structural changes that disrupt learning. These changes can make the student struggle to self-regulate emotionally and act out behaviorally. They may also interpret facial expressions and tone in ways that cause undue distress and distractions from learning; for example, they may interpret a teacher’s look of surprise as angry or threatening. Studies also indicate that poor grades among bullied kids may be due to neuro-physiological changes, and that bullying can lead to the development of psychosis, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and/or eating disorders - all of which also impede learning.
3. Anxious effects
Kids who are targeted by bullies often develop extreme and chronic anxiety Anxiety weakens focus, working memory, executive functioning, and thought processing, impeding a student’s ability to absorb and retain information.
4. Debilitating depression
The pervasive despair of depression can pose numerous barriers to learning. Depression has been shown to decrease mental processing speed and impair memory, concentration, executive functioning, and cognitive flexibility (the ability to adapt to changing situations, such as coming up with a new strategy if their science project malfunctions, understanding different points of view on complex topics, or comprehending that a letter can make multiple sounds in different words).
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5. Social delays
Bullied kids are more likely to be isolated and excluded . This is not only devastating to students who crave peer acceptance but also damaging to their academic outlook. Whether it be team sports in Physical Education, group projects in English, or participation in after school clubs, collaborative work with peers is important for academic progress and preparing for eventual employment. Bullying can make a student fearful or uncomfortable interacting with classmates, and unfortunately, some classmates may cave into peer pressure and replicate the bully’s poor treatment of the isolated student.
6. Vicarious trauma
It’s important to recognize that targeted kids are not the only ones who are negatively affected by bullies. Bystander students, or students who witness other kids being bullied, are also at risk for anxiety, depression, and PTSD from exposure to violence, harassment, and abuse. Therefore, bullying happening to any students at your child’s school poses a threat to all students’ wellbeing and academic potential.
7. Negative perceptions
The traumatic experiences that bullied kids endure can lead them to approach all school environments with dread and pessimism. As a result, they may lack participation in class and avoid enriching activities such as after school clubs or extra credit assignments. Teachers might mistakenly view the student as unmotivated and may pass them up for opportunities that could strengthen their academic progress, such as awards or classroom leadership roles.
Getting Support
Bullying has a multifaceted impact on a child’s growing brain, which is further exacerbated if the student has a learning disorder or is neurodiverse. If your child has experienced bullying and learning challenges, it’s important to identify how each underlying cause is affecting their learning. Our psychologists provide diagnostic testing, including a comprehensive review of your child’s social, medical, and educational history, to pinpoint factors impeding their education and guide you toward effective solutions.
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References:
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How to Cite This Blog Article:
Shinn. M.M. (2024). TITLE]. Retrieved from: https://www.variationspsychology.com/blogs/my-kid-is-being-bullied-how-will-this-impact-their-ability-to-learn