Bullying: Massachusetts study links bullying, family violence
At Hale Middle School in Woodland Hills, 11-year-old Max Chaplin, second from left, wears a shirt he made for Feb. 8's "Stand Tall Day," devoted to anti-bullying. A new CDC report links bullying and family violence, and calls on schools to continue anti-bullying efforts. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times April 22, 2011, 12:11 p.m.
A new study underscores something researchers have known for some time with regard to bullying: that kids involved with it are more likely to display risk factors such as poor grades and drug and alcohol use.
They're also more likely to have witnessed or been directly involved in violence within their families, researchers reported -- a link that previously had been established only in smaller studies.
The bullying report was published Thursday in the Centers for Disease Control's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. It was based on the Massachusetts Youth Health Survey, an anonymous survey of nearly 6,000 public middle and high school students conducted in January 2009.
In addition to a panel of questions about their grades, health, drug use and violence in their families and more, the Massachusetts students were asked two questions about bullying -- were they perpetrators of bullying and were they victims of bullying? Based on their answers, kids were divided into four groups: bullies (perpetrators only), bully-victims (those who inflicted and received abuse), victims and "neither" (kids who weren't involved with bullying at all.)
The survey found that 43.9% of middle school respondents were affected by bullying and 30.5% of high school respondents. The odds for most of the risk factors for bullying considered by the survey (such as drinking, or mental health problems) were "significantly elevated" for bullies, victims and bully-victims. Bully-victims in middle and high school were more than three times as likely to report seriously considering suicide, intentionally injuring themselves, being physically hurt by a family member and witnessing violence in their family. They were more likely to have been exposed to family violence than bullies, who in turn were more likely to have been exposed than victims, who in turn were more likely to have been exposed than kids who were neither bullies nor victims, the survey reported.
The authors urged states to continue their work on bullying prevention.
One-fourth of Massachusetts middle-schoolers and 16 percent of high school students report enduring bullying at school, according to a federal report released yesterday that puts the state at the center of the national discussion over the issue.
For the first time, Massachusetts health authorities included questions about bullying in a survey regularly given to gauge the health and behaviors of the state’s students, and the findings not only define the scope of the problem, but also suggest the cause. Most notable was the link between violence at home and bullying at school.
The report found that students who said they had been involved in bullying, as both a perpetrator and a victim, were five times more likely to report they had been hurt physically by a family member, compared to those who said they were neither a victim nor a bully. And they were substantially more likely to have witnessed violence against other family members.
The study was released a year after Governor Deval Patrick signed a law requiring schools to adopt clear procedures for reporting and investigating cases of bullying, as well as methods for preventing retaliation against those who report problems.
Because Massachusetts is the first state to conduct a bullying survey in this manner, it is not possible to compare the results with other states to determine whether bullying is more or less common in Massachusetts, state officials said.
As schools and health de partments grapple with bullying and its myriad consequences, researchers said the findings from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Department of Public Health underscore the need for educators to recognize the strong link to family dynamics in students’ lives.
“These children are learning [violent behavior] in their families and behaving the same way in their social relationships with their peers,’’ said Elizabeth Englander, a psychology professor at Bridgewater State University and director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center, which conducts research and runs antibullying programs in many public schools.
“I think we all know there are many more cases of [family] abuse than we can detect,’’ she said.
The survey, conducted in 2009 and released yesterday, also found that students who said they were both victims and perpetrators were significantly more likely than other students to report they had attempted suicide or seriously considered it in the previous 12 months.
And they were much more likely to say they drank or used drugs, the report found.
“Sometimes, people who we have thought of as perpetrators are actually very vulnerable themselves,’’ said John Auerbach, Massachusetts public health commissioner.
Auerbach’s department conducted the student survey and is helping the state’s Education Department implement the antibullying law. He said the findings will help his agency train counselors and educators to better pinpoint potential problems.
“If we are working with women who are victims of domestic violence, for instance, it is clear the children would need special supports to lessen the likelihood that they are victims or bullies’’ or both victims and perpetrators, Auerbach said.
“This also suggests that when we are working with adolescents with substance abuse problems, we should be screening them to see if part of what’s going on in their lives is related to violence,’’ he said.
Every two years, Auerbach’s department surveys thousands of Massachusetts public school students about a variety of behaviors. The latest findings are based on the department’s 2009 survey, which for the first time included questions about bullying.
The anonymous survey of roughly 6,000 students, conducted with pen and paper, was completed during one class period in 138 public middle and high schools. The findings took into account differences among age, sex, race, ethnicity, and nonresponses.
Researchers from the CDC helped analyze the data.
Steve Marcelin, a senior at the Social Justice Academy high school in Hyde Park, said the numbers ring true. The 18-year-old, who moved to Massachusetts from Haiti five years ago, said he was bullied and taunted during eighth and ninth grades as he struggled to learn English.
“Most of the time I felt powerless,’’ Marcelin said. “I would try to, in school, keep a straight face, but at home I would cry.’’
Marcelin said he did not contemplate suicide, nor did he strike out and bully someone else. He credits support from his family for helping him through those dark days.
“My parents are mostly at work, so they don’t have that much time to go to the school,’’ he said. “But they would tell me things to try and lift up my spirit.’’
The state survey found that 13 to 15 percent of victims who said they had been bullied reported that they either had witnessed violence in their families in the past year or had been physically hurt by a family member.
The percentages were even higher among bullies and those who said they were both bully and victim. At the high school level, 31 percent of students who said they were both a perpetrator and a victim reported having witnessed family violence in the past year.
A separate study by the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center further underscores the scope of the problem. Preliminary results from a survey of 21,000 third- through 12th-graders suggest roughly half of students who identified themselves as bullies also said they had been victims of bullying.
Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, said the findings from yesterday’s federal report do not surprise him. They starkly illustrate the increasing challenges schools face, he said.
Family violence is “beyond our control, but not beyond our responsibility, because society has put that on us to deal with it,’’ Koocher said.
Bullying, he said, “drains the emotions of principals and teachers … and all of this gets in the way of learning.’’
Santiago - Chilean and international media have recently reported on the horror that the untimely death of Daniel Zamudio has caused to civilized humanity. Who was Daniel Zamudio?
Daniel Zamudio was the second of four children of the marriage of Ivan Zamudio and Jacqueline Vera. He was born in 1987 in the town of San Bernardo, a district located just south of Santiago, the Chilean capital. By the time he was about 13 years old, his family realized Daniel was homosexual. However, he did not openly admit his sexual orientation until age 17.
Daniel’s relationship with his family was good, although not free from conflict with his father who apparently did not accept his son was gay. His father, however, has declared the problems mostly arose because he found Daniel’s overall behavior to be irresponsible. Daniel’s mother provided support and understanding.
In 2003, after his parents separated, Daniel went to live with his mother and grandmother. At age 17, he fell into a deep depression triggered by the suicide of his best friend. Unable to cope with the tragedy, he became emotionally instable, neglected his studies and finally he quit high school.
Until recently in 2012, he was working as a clerk in a Chinese clothing store with the intention of saving some money to resume regular schooling and to take modeling and acting lessons. His goal was to pursue a career in communications and eventually to start a family and become a father.
Daniel regularly attended LGBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-sexual) oriented nightclubs and more than once mentioned to friends that he had been harassed by strangers when he was leaving the venues.
On March 2, Daniel went to work as usual at 7:30 a.m. He told his family that he would meet a friend in the evening and would be home late. He did not return. On Sunday, his family reported his disappearance to the Chilean Police. They managed to identify him as the young man who had been admitted the day before to Santiago’s Posta Central Hospital. Daniel had been found by a policeman around 4:00 a.m. without ID documents, badly injured and unconscious. He was found in "San Borja" Park which is located along the Alameda, a main thoroughfare in downtown Santiago.
After a few days at the Central Hospital, Daniel showed a slow recovery. He was removed from the induced coma and doctors noted some minor involuntary reactions to stimuli. However, on March 19, his condition worsened again after suffering a seizure and he was placed again into an induced coma. Daniel died on the evening of March 27. .. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/321976
On March 28, upon confirmation of Daniel Zamudio’s death, Chilean president Sebastián Piñera, while travelling in an official tour in Asia, expressed his solidarity with the family.
“The brutal and cowardly assault and death of Daniel Zamudio hurts not only his family but all people of good will. I want to express to the parents, family and friends of Daniel Zamudio my deepest feelings of love and solidarity. His death will not go unpunished and it reinforces the government's total commitment against arbitrary discrimination and towards a more tolerant country.”
"any distinction, exclusion or restriction that lacks reasonable justification, committed by agents of the state or individuals, and that causes the deprivation, disturbance or threatens the legitimate exercise of fundamental rights established by the constitution or in international human rights treaties ratified by Chile."
The new law intends to punish with imprisonment those
"who by any means of public dissemination of any word or action that externalizes a discriminatory opinion, promotes hatred and violence against vulnerable groups, or publications or broadcasts made to promote hatred or hostility against persons or groups because of their race, sex, religion or nationality."
It is expected that the tragic death of Daniel Zamudio may bring the necessary action from those in charge of ensuring that the rights of minorities are protected.
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