Nanohedron wrote:
There used to be an old saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me." It hardly served as a substantial teaching, because while anyone can see there's a certain truth to it, I was always left to wonder why I wound up feeling hurt by others' words anyway.
The saying is empirically false. Studies show that childhood bullying, verbal or physical, does lasting psychological damage, significantly increasing the risks of suicide, depression, addictions and poverty. It shortens lifespans and affects behaviour decades into adulthood.
https://www.livescience.com/53034-child ... fects.html
Bullying can have a lasting effect on a person's mental health: A new study finds that children who were bullied frequently when they were 8 years old were more likely to develop a psychiatric disorder that needed treatment as an adult, compared with kids who were not bullied.
The scientists also found strong evidence that being bullied as a child puts kids at high risk for depression as a young adult, according to the study, published online today (Dec. 9) in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
The findings suggest that being victimized by bullying in early childhood increases the risk of depressive disorders that need psychiatric treatment later in life, said study author Dr. Andre Sourander, a professor of child psychiatry at the University of Turku in Finland.
http://www.bbc.com/news/education-23756749
Bullying in childhood "throws a long shadow" into victims' adult lives, suggests research indicating long-term negative consequences for health, job prospects and relationships.
The study tracked more than 1,400 people between the ages of nine and 26.
School bullies were also more likely to grow up into adult criminals.
The study, from Warwick University in the UK and Duke University in the US, concludes bullying should not be seen as "a harmless rite of passage".
...
We cannot continue to dismiss bullying as a harmless, almost inevitable, part of growing up. We need to change this mindset and acknowledge this as a serious problem
Dieter Wolke, University of Warwick
All of those involved in bullying, as victims or aggressors, had outcomes that were generally worse than the average for those who had not been involved in bullying.
Sustained bullying of all kinds
is violence. Teachers & parents who ponder the above and decide that if there aren't too many bruises nobody got hurt - which is usually the easiest option - are betraying the kids they're supposed to protect.