School Bullying Linked To Family Violence, Study Finds

By Lauren Keiper

While bullies and their victims traffic in threats, taunts and fights in the schoolyard, a report on Thursday showed those on both sides are also more likely to live with violence at home.

Violent family encounters were most common among youth who identified as someone who has both bullied and been victimized, the report said.

The association was among findings from a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which along with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health analyzed data from middle and high school students across the state.

Massachusetts has been at the forefront of the bullying debate since the widely reported suicides of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince of South Hadley last year and 11-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover of Springfield in 2009.

The state passed anti-bullying legislation in May 2010 which prohibits bullying in school and online, and mandates school-developed bullying prevention and intervention plans.

The CDC analysis, published online in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for April 22, confirmed some well-documented associations with bullying -- an increased likelihood of suicide, substance abuse or poor grades.

But using the Massachusetts data, the CDC also found bullies and their victims reported being physically hurt by a family member or witnessing violence at home significantly more often than people who said they had not been bullied.

CDC's report established a link between bullying and events outside school.

"A comprehensive approach that encompasses school officials, students and their families is needed to prevent bullying among middle school and high school students," the CDC researchers said.

The report, which CDC said was the first state-specific analysis of risk factors and bullying, also noted that significant numbers of bullies and bully-victims said they had recently used alcohol or drugs.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[francisco cortes]

12:34 AM on 05/23/2011

The fight against bullying will never end it must happen, is like the fight against disease but disease will never go away. Every social species in the biosphere bully in the name of the competition for the resource of the ecosystem and pecking order competition. Sorry to say when you fight against bullying you are fighting against aproximately 450 million years of biological evolution hardwire in the reptilian brain of every human being, the only thing that can stop bullying is call the frontal lobe of the neurocortex, still humans have a hard time controlling animal instincts enough to avoid bullying.

[Huff reader2011]

06:40 PM on 04/26/2011

One word: Duh. Most,if not all, bullies are very unhappy,insecure people

[Hlynn]

11:21 AM on 04/26/2011

All violence in the home is not violence against children. Sometimes it's violence between adults that children witness. Sometimes it's violence between siblings, but the adults in the home don't step in to stop it. Sometimes it's mom and boyfriend yelling at each other and throwing things so children can't sleep. Calling CPS usually means they'll take a report, but rarely do much more simply because their caseloads are so large and there are so many reports to follow up on that they only move on the most serious ones. One CPS worker told me that if it doesn't involve sexual abuse or serious physical abuse requiring a hospital visit they probably won't go to the home or take it any further than a report. So, where do children turn for help if adults at home won't help (or are the problem) and reporting it at school doesn't help either?

[been2there]

02:23 AM on 04/26/2011

Bottom line here--in order to prevent bullying, we must all make an effort to treat children, all children, with courtesy and respect, and to insist that they do the same. The solution is simple, in the sense that it is not hard to understand; it is not, however, easy.

[Shana Donohue]

10:19 PM on 04/24/2011

Gee, I hope the researcher here got paid a boat load for uncovering the obvious. Guess what, violent homes also produce murderers! Can you believe it?!

[MarcEdward]

03:27 PM on 04/24/2011

Hmm, does this say there is a "cause and effect" or that there is a "likelihood that some have seen violence"? What does "physically hurt by a family member" mean? If you have a sibling, it's almost 100% guaranteed that you will have been physically hurt by a family member at some point. This doesn't seem very meaningful to me. My sons beat on each with nerf-swords, sticks, pine cones, pillows, etc., but have never bullied anybody (besides each other). 
Some people are born rotten, and some people are raised badly, period. I don't care what their excuse is, their behavior still cannot and must not be tolerated in the schools.

[KJLSanDiego]

04:05 PM on 04/24/2011

Well said!

[Alexandra Cean]

08:28 AM on 04/25/2011

Wait... are you comparing children playing around with nerf-swords to serious incidences of domestic violence?

[MarcEdward]

08:36 AM on 04/25/2011

Nope

[maxfax]

08:35 PM on 04/23/2011

There's no "one size fits all" solution to this, but we need to begin somewhere.

[TookieWords]

04:20 AM on 04/24/2011

why?

[Myrrhis]

05:25 PM on 04/23/2011

Something that may have snuck in there is that both bullying perps AND victims report violence in the home. Can we assume that in populations where there are large enough numbers of bullies for it to be a major issue that this finding implies that most students live with violence?

Violence is what we need to address. Violence that begets bullying. Violence that begets rape. Violence that begets itself in a myriad of terrifying ways.

[MarcEdward]

03:28 PM on 04/24/2011

I want to read the original data. This doesn't seem all that conclusive.

[Jeanne Ball]

03:46 PM on 04/23/2011

Helping kids dissolve stress can go a long way to prevent tension and negative behavior at school. Introducing meditation in the classroom has been found to help kids reduce anxiety, depression, stress and improve academic performance. See my article on Huff Po http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeanne-ball/meditation-students_b_852352.html

[Just a passerby]

04:31 PM on 04/23/2011

Thanks for the ad, lady.

[Suntio]

04:54 PM on 04/23/2011

I hate it when they do that, it totally invalidates whatever point they were trying to make.

[DenaSilver]

05:27 AM on 04/25/2011

"resolve"

[Jeanne Ball]

04:19 PM on 04/26/2011

Yes, "resolve" is one level of dealing with stress. But "dissolving" the underlying physiological correlates of emotional stress is also possible. And this happens when the body gets deep relaxation during meditation. Studies on meditation have found that indicators of stress, such as stress hormones, blood lactate and hypertension are reduced. Sadly, kids suffer from stress and it effects their nervous system and bio-chemistry—giving rising to negative behavior.

[DiMarco Newman]

01:22 PM on 04/23/2011

While these findings are not a surprise, it is very helpful for educators to understand why and how a child becomes a bully. This information is powerful when designing consequences for bullies once it has been established they have bullied. My co-author and I spend quite a bit of time in our book, "When Your Child Is Being Bullied: Real Solutions," sharing the importance of learning consequences vs. punishment. Bullies must be forced to introspect,reflect and understand. Typical punitive actions such as detentions and suspensions don't work, unless you are combining those actions with learning events like community service, researching bullying, counseling. Parents and educators can find free resources on our web site, solutionsforbullying.com and our book.

[jusathot]

11:28 AM on 04/23/2011

Duh...

[BowlingForRevenge]

10:28 AM on 04/23/2011

Nothing new here. Just ask a school teacher.
That's why they say violence is a circle with no beginning and no end.

[mikey09]

09:37 AM on 04/23/2011

So once again, it all starts in the home....why do we have so many disfunctional families today?

[Smithn]

07:33 PM on 04/22/2011

"A" is bulliedby "B". "A" tells mother or school. Scholl &/or mother makes report with Child Welfare Services.

[pjbyrd63]

12:48 PM on 04/25/2011

Or visit your local police station to reserve a ride for "B".

[NHGranite]

06:29 PM on 04/22/2011

Gee, I wonder why kids who live with violence are bullies. When the constant stress and anger are the norm, that becomes their way of getting attention substituted for love. Gonna take a wild guess - the only touch they get or see is a smack, not a hug. I think it's also a pecking order kind of thing, kid gets hit and can't do anything about it and hits a smaller kid to feel - good? superior? release? Don't ask

[mabinog]

08:56 PM on 04/22/2011

Have to agree I think there are two kinds of bullies, those that have low self esteem and the "popular" bullies that use their social power to just be vicious. the low self esteem bully is usually a loner the others are a clique and feel entitled.

[Huff reader2011]

06:44 PM on 04/26/2011

Very true;excellent comment.