Bullying at a tender age might increase risk of self-harm later in life?

Updated Trends: A recent study has revealed that children who are bullied at an early age are more likely to harm themselves than their classmates when they reach to the age of adolescence. Findings have revealed that about half of 12-year-old children who deliberately injure themselves were frequently bullied earlier.

The research has also revealed that children who are victimised with mental health difficulties and also those who come from troubled families were at greater risk of resorting to destructive behaviour. This could have adverse effects in their later life.

The authors of the study have called for more effective programmes so as to prevent bullying in schools. The British Medical Journal published a paper in which they suggested that efforts should now focus on improving the ways in which the children could cope with the emotional stress.

The authors said, “Bullying by peers is a major problem during the early school years”. The study noticed that before 12 years of age, a small proportion of children were frequently exposed to such kind of victimization and out of this, many of them had even tried to harm themselves. Such frequent victimization by peers increases the risk of self harm in children.