Children with chronic illness or disability most often bully targets

GHN News - University
research in many quarters now supports the fact that bullying is worse
for people who are different, and in one study children who have
disabilities or chronic illnesses are shown to be far more often the targets of bullies.

“We
were not overly surprised to learn that children with disability are
more vulnerable to bullying, because of a lower self-esteem, sometimes
differences in appearance or because they have special needs,” said
Mariane Sentenac, of the University Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, France,
lead author of a French - Irish study.  This shows the problem to be
worldwide.

The
research involved children chronicled from different parts of the world
in a collaborative study from World Health Organization materials that
included 12,048 children ages 11, 13 and 15.  The children were asked to
answer questions about if and how much they were bullied as well as
questions about whether they have health problems or a disability.  20%
reported having these issues.

The problems in the United States were underlined by Mark
Schuster, M.D., professor of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Boston
and Harvard Medical School.  He said,“Unfortunately, children who stand
out in any way, because of their health, their race, their orientation,
or anything else that distinguishes them from most kids in a school, can
find themselves a target of bullying,”

The
study suggested the problem of bullying could be resolved by
anti-bullying prevention programs and families that communicated good
values.

“In my view, good relations with teachers and parents could play an
important role in preventing and detecting bullying behaviors between
students because they are in a position to observe two different aspects
of the adolescent’s life,” Sentenac said.