School Bullies and Their Victims Turn to Alcohol

Is your child worried about going back to school? Is he being threatened, or a victim of any sort of violence?  Bullying in any form is not to be taken lightly. Obese, gay or just unique or different from the general lot are reasons enough for bullying.

School bullying statistics show that about one in four kids in the U.S. are bullied on a regular basis. According to the American Psychological Association, approximately "40 percent to 80 percent of school-age children experience bullying at some point during their school careers".

Out of control bullying is one of the prime factors of death in American schools. Many a times it has forced students to take the drastic step of suicide.

A new study focusing on this issue states that, school bullies and their victims are likely to abuse alcohol after a bullying episode.

This study was carried by Keith King, professor of health promotions, University of Cincinnati, along with Rebecca Vidourek, an assistant professor of health promotion  at the same university.  

In order to prove the hypothesis, the researchers examined bullying, recent alcohol use and heavy drinking episodes among  54,000  7th--12th grade students in schools across Greater Cincinnati, including the Tristate regions of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. 

The data was garnered by the Coalition for a Drug Free Greater Cincinnati as part of the 2009-2010 Pride Survey on adolescent drug use in America.

On conducting the analysis, they noticed that more than 38 percent of students were involved in school violent victimization. This ranged from verbal intimidation to threatening with dangerous weapons.

They also noticed that school violent victimization increased odds of recent alcohol use and excess consumption of alcohol among males and females across 7th-12th grades.

According to King and Vidourek, the analysis also uncovered that males, non-whites and junior high school students were more likely to be victimized by bullying.

King also stated that the junior high and high school students were one-and-a-half times more likely to have abused alcohol if they were bullied.

"The overall effect of victimization and alcohol use did not differ based on sex, age or race. It has an overall impact on their drinking rates and level of intoxication across all categories," said King.

"Also, bullies and their victims are reporting similar types of activity in relation to their drinking patterns. We believe the alcohol abuse may often be an effort to escape problems and to self-medicate," said King.

 Through the study they also learnt that the bullies and victims of bullying were reluctant to participate in positive activities such as school clubs, sports or community and church organizations.

"The results of this study mirror our past studies in examining adolescent behavior, and how positive connections with schools, families and their communities can positively and significantly impact the social and emotional health of youth," says King.

According to the researchers, future studies will closely examine other adolescent drug use besides alcohol.

The early findings of the new study were presented on Oct 29, at the 140th annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in San Francisco.