Childhood bullying

By Channel NewsAsia, Updated: 17/07/2010
Some victims of childhood bullying still haven’t recovered from trauma: survey

SINGAPORE: Some victims of childhood bullying do not grow out of their trauma, according to a recent survey.

It polled Singaporeans between 25 and 29 years old and found that most victims have a weaker sense of personal well—being, compared with those who had not been bullied.

As a child, you might have come across the resident school bully, who could have verbally or physically abused you or your peers.

These unpleasant encounters sometimes never go away.

Winston Ong, research officer, Singapore Children’s Society, said: "Respondents who’ve been bullied before actually have lower self—esteem and lower levels of well—being. They’re also more depressed as compared to those who have never been bullied."

The survey was a retrospective one involving 600 young adults who had studied in a primary or secondary school. One key finding showed that Malays were being more bullied than Chinese.

Of those interviewed, 61 per cent of Malays said they had been bullied, compared with 48 per cent of Chinese respondents.

Researchers said they don’t have any information explaining why but they do not detect any trends.

One hot topic at this year’s Bully—Free forum was cyber bullying and schools are taking a serious stance on social networking platforms and blogs.

Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State for Law & Home Affairs, said: "All reported cases are investigated. Schools have the autonomy to decide on the disciplinary measures to take against the offenders as appropriate. More importantly, however, tough disciplinary measures should be accompanied by proper education and counselling for the bullies and victims."

Fortunately, the victims surveyed said their situation improved most of the time when they sought help from schools, parents and peers. — CNA/vm

This article is talking about people who were being bullied during their childhood time do not recover from their trauma when they grow up. This is actually a very sad case and they are two types of bullying. Verbally and physically. When people are being verbally bullied, it will cause them to be emotionally hurt, but when they are being physically bullied, they will be hurt both physically and emotionally. Physical injuries can be healed after a period of time but sometimes, when a person is emotionally hurt, it might not be able to recover even after a long time and the bad experience which the victims when through might be with them for a life time.

We should treat others like how we want to be treated and do not go around bullying others just because it is fun. It would not be fun if you were to imagine that you are the one who is being bullied. One should also be careful with the words they use and do not engage in cyber bullying. Victims should report any case of bullying and if necessary, do not hesitate to seek help from the parents, teachers or even the counsellor to get out of the unpleasant situation or trauma.