Should Kids Do Pushups: How Young Is Too Young?
Can a child be too young to do pushups? How young is too young for kids to do pushups?
What’s interesting about this question is that babies do this type of motion all the time.
Though there is no practical reason to make a young child do pushups (as far as fitness is concerned, there are parents who enforce this exercise as punishment), it certainly isn’t harmful to a child’s body.
How many times have you seen a baby press up his or her body weight as though trying to do a pushup?
His upper body is off the floor, arms/shoulders holding it up, while the legs are still on the floor.
But what about preschoolers and young grade schoolers?
Shutterstock/siSSen
Is it safe for kids these ages to do pushups?
Yes, it definitely is safe. Think of the things that kids do, that you normally wouldn’t think of as being potentially harmful to their joints or muscles.
Examples are lugging around heavy bags of raked leaves, carrying out the garbage, picking each other up during play, carrying around dogs or their toddler siblings, bowling, and carrying heavy backpacks on their backs at school.
These are all weight-bearing activities that stress a young, growing body unequally and put strain on the back!
Pushups, on the other hand, stress the child’s body equally on both sides, with very minimal strain on the back.
Though few young people can do a complete pushup without a lot of practice, this doesn’t mean that this exercise is dangerous for them.
I have spent a number of years training in the martial arts, and have witnessed scores of young kids doing pushups.
Shutterstock/Microgen
Do novice children struggle at these? Of course. But so do teens and adults.
The ability to do this exercise is learned, either directly (as in the case of kids), or indirectly, as in the case of adults who lift weights.
If your child wants to train at pushups, encourage it. If your child must do them as part of martial arts training, then don’t fret.
Kids can become very efficient at performing this handy exercise.
If you want to make your child do pushups for general fitness this is perfectly fine.
This exercise will not injure kids unless they’re forced to overdo it and hence, harm a shoulder joint.
They are more likely to “pull something” while shoveling snow or lugging around heavy garbage bags.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: Shutterstock/Duct
Can Congestive Heart Failure Make Troponin Rise and Fall?
You may know that congestive heart failure can cause troponin elevation, but would this elevation necessarily stay there or can it “spike”?
A blood test that comes back elevated for troponin always means that something is going on — this is not a lab error, since the cardiac troponin test is extremely sensitive.
If the elevation of troponin is in the “indeterminate range” or “grey area,” and subsequent blood tests show a fall, this is not indicative of a heart attack. But something happened.
If prior, the patient was diagnosed with congestive heart failure (chronic, not acute), one might think that this higher-than-normal reading of troponin (a protein enzyme that’s leaked from damaged cardiac tissue) was triggered by congestive heart failure.
On the other hand, if subsequent tests show a drop back to a normal level—this points more towards an acute (sudden) event. So here’s the big question:
When congestive heart failure causes elevated troponin, can this elevation be temporary, transient, intermittent?
Or would it necessarily be a new “baseline normal” for the patient, since CHF doesn’t come and go, but is there to stay?
“It is persistently flat; it is usually only mildly elevated and does not rise and fall like in an acute myocardial infarction,” says Dr. Adam Splaver, clinical cardiologist and co-founder of NanoHealth Associates, a practice that explores the molecular level of cardiovascular disease.
“Flat” refers to the same ongoing level, not fluctuating back and forth between indeterminate range and normal..
If a CHF patient’s troponin is elevated in the indeterminate range fairly soon after suspicious symptoms begin, and then it actually drops on subsequent tests, this rise and fall is not from the congestive heart failure; it’s from something else.
But the grey area range is not sufficient to diagnose heart attack (myocardial infarction).
Dr. Splaver says, “Troponins are never suggestive of CHF; they are only an indicator that heart damage has occurred.”
So even though chronic CHF can indeed cause an elevation, it’s of the persistent or “flat” type, not the rise-and-fall type.
Doctors need to find out what caused the rise-and-fall in a patient with chronic CHF.
If a patient’s troponin result is, say, 0.18 (normal is zero to 0.04 for cardiac troponin T), this is not a normal result; it’s indeterminate and warrants another test several hours later.
If the second test is lower (say, 0.13), this is a “fall,” even though we’re talking a decimal fraction of hundredths. Remember, this test is highly sensitive.
Dr. Splaver says that this scenario suggests that an acute event occurred (but not a heart attack), even though 0.18 isn’t that much more than 0.04 from a mathematical perspective.
So what else might have been going on with such a patient? Again, doctors will look into this.
Other causes of a rise-and-fall of troponin into the indeterminate range and then to the normal range include a coronary artery spasm and atrial fibrillation.
However, in order for an episode of AF to elevate troponins, there would have to be severe underlying coronary artery disease.
Dr. Splaver is board certified in cardiology, internal medicine and echocardiography, and is a registered physician in vascular interpretation and trained in age management medicine.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Top image: Shutterstock/designer491
Child Accused of Bullying? What Parents Should Know
The stereotypical reaction of a parent, when they learn their child/teen has been bullying another individual, is to deny their child’s behavior or make excuses for it.
And often, this is the case, but another scenario also often plays out:
The parent/s lambast their child or teen, and actually behave towards them in a way that’s similar to how the child bullies at school!
I once heard a woman, whose kids were grown, announce, “If my kids were ever bullies, I’d nail them to the wall!”
A man I once knew berated his son and said, “You’re the duncehead!” after he learned his son called a neighborhood boy “duncehead.” The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Tips for how parents should respond upon learning child is a bully:
“If a child is accused of bullying, the first step is to take the accusation seriously,” says Rashmi Shetgiri, MD, MSHS, medical director at Pediatric Primary Care Clinic in Los Angeles whose research interests include bullying and youth violence prevention.
“It is important to talk with the child and, if possible, the accuser or school to ascertain all perspectives on the situation.”
Did that man ever inquire why his son called the boy “duncehead”? Perhaps the boy had threatened his son.
Perhaps the boy pushed the son to the ground. The son was too scared to explain why, and he was never asked why, either.
It’s possible the boy simply felt like taunting the other kid. This warrants a talk between son and father.
But the “talk” should not be one-sided or of a berating, demeaning tone — this parent-to-child dynamic often causes the child to be a bully at school — or a victim of bullies.
“After determining what happened, parents can talk to their child about the intentions behind his/her actions,” explains Dr. Shetgiri.
“Some children who bully may not realize the impact of their actions, or may be bullying as a result of peer pressure.”
Parents should not harangue their kids for submitting to the peer pressure to be mean, though it’s understandable when an adult simply cannot figure out how a child, especially an older child, could allow themselves to be swayed to the dark side.
Parents are capable of this very behavior — a mob mentality of becoming mean-spirited because their peers are doing so.
Look no further than youth baseball or soccer games, where parents have been known to explode in temper tantrums and holler obscenities to coaches and umpires.
If you find out your child is a bully, you can “then discuss and model respectful interactions with peers, and set expectations” for your son or daughter’s behavior, says Dr. Shetgiri.
“Finally, parents can periodically communicate with schools to determine if the situation is improving, and can consider having their child speak with their school counselor or a psychologist to evaluate for any mental health or behavioral concerns that may be contributing to their bullying behavior.”
Dr. Shetgiri also suggests that parents bring up the situation with the child’s doctor to see whether or not a mental health referral is warranted.
Dr. Shetgiri is particularly interested in prevention of violence among Latino youth, the implementation of primary-care-based bullying and violence prevention strategies, and health outcomes for children exposed to violence and abuse.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: Shutterstock/Suzanne Tucker
Parents’ Mistakes that Make Kids Attract Bullies Like Flies
An expert weighs in on if there’s a such thing as a bullyogenic parent, one whose mistakes turn their kids into bully magnets.
If humans are a product of their environment, it should stand to reason that bully magnets are created by their parents’ mistakes, rather than dealt a bad genetic hand at conception.
This is a conclusion that many people in the general population are apt to make. But just how accurate is this conclusion?
“There is surprisingly little research to support the notion that parenting styles can make children more likely to be a victim,” says Rona Novick, PhD, who developed the BRAVE bully prevention program.
A clinical psychologist, Dr. Novick has worked with schools nationally on the issue of bullying, and is director of the Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Doctoral Program at Yeshiva University, NY.
She adds that a lot of what puts kids at risk for bullying has to do with their reactivity to situations and how much they show their distress.
“This is a characteristic largely fueled by temperament, a child’s predominate biological nature.”
Sometimes this can be observed even in infancy; a mellow, “easy” baby versus a fidgeting, demanding baby.
Dr. Novick says that parents of very reactive children are no more to blame for this than they are for their child’s height.
“Of course, being blessed with a reactive child, parents can certainly make things worse.
“Overprotectiveness is the one parental characteristic that research has found mildly connected to a child being bullied.
“Certainly, once a child is victimized, it is so natural for a parent to want to run to the rescue, or to teach the bully a lesson.”
Dr. Novick cites a case of a man whose disabled daughter was getting bullied on her bus.
He boarded the bus and threatened the bullies.
There are other cases of similar scenarios, in which a parent confronts their child’s bullies on a bus.
This may be effective for the moment. But then what happens after the parent gets off the bus or a week later when the impact of the intervention has thinned out?
The bullied student must “spend the school day in the company of the now aroused and possibly vengeful bullies,” says Dr. Novick.
“Parents need to be certain they are not making things worse, and they should listen to their children who are often the best informants about what will be embarrassing, inappropriate, or leave them in a worse position.”
Can parenting mistakes make a child more likely to be the bully?
Research indicates that kids raised in environments with inconsistent discipline, neglect or overly harsh punishment may develop aggressive behaviors.
A study by the National Institutes of Health found that inadequate emotional support and poor modeling of conflict resolution skills contribute to bullying tendencies.
Dr. Novick is recognized for her expertise in behavior management and child behavior therapy. She has published scholarly articles on school applications of behavior management, children and trauma, and bully prevention in schools.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: Freepik.com
Why Parents Tell Kids to Ignore Bullying & Why It Fails
It’s a whopping myth that ignoring bullies makes them go away, so why do parents give this bad advice to their kids?
If your child is a victim of bullying, and you’re tempted to go the easy route by telling him or her, “Just ignore it,” you must seriously reconsider this approach.
“Although removing the reinforcement and attention from bullies should make them stop their harassment, it is not so simple,” says Rona Novick, PhD, who developed the BRAVE bully prevention program.
A clinical psychologist, Dr. Novick has worked with schools nationally on the issue of bullying, and is director of the Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Doctoral Program at Yeshiva University, NY.
How would these parents feel if, upon reporting to the human resources department that they were being sexually harassed by their boss, the HR manager told them, “Just ignore it”?
Can you say lawsuit?
Yet kids are told to ignore bullies!
Why is harassment to adults at the workplace worthy of a million-dollar lawsuit, but when it applies to kids at school, they should be expected to possess the psychological strength to “just ignore it”? What is this world coming to?
“Parents often tell victims to ignore bullying, hoping that if their child (the victim) does not give the bully the satisfaction of showing they are hurt, the bully will cease and desist,” says Dr. Novick.
Only a robot can hide feelings of hurt on their face and in their body mannerisms and speech patterns.
“In reality, bullies get very locked into their power dance with victims,” she continues.
“This means that when a victim does ignore (and by the way, since victims are often very reactive, this is extremely hard for victims to do), a bully will likely come back with escalating cruelty.”
Imagine the stress buildup in kids, even older high school kids, whose only weapon (or so they’ve been taught) is to continuously try to ignore verbal assaults at a place where they spend many hours, five days a week, nearly 10 months a year.
“Even the strongest of victims can rarely ignore consistently, so eventually, the bully gets the satisfaction of experiencing power over his/her victim,” says Dr. Novick.
Origin of Myth
“This strategy of ignoring has been so commonly reported in the popular media, and many novels, TV shows, etc., erroneously show it as effective, leading parents to buy into the myth.”
Most parents genuinely feel for their bullied kids, but just don’t know what to do, adds Dr. Novick.
And very unfortunately, there is a percentage of parents who just don’t want to bother with the task of figuring out a solution.
Telling kids to ignore bullies is perceived as a fast, quick-fix solution that relieves the parent of duties.
Can three words solve a big problem? Not likely. Telling a bullied child to “just ignore it” is like telling a 90-pound weakling to just hit a home run.
“Children need an array of strategies; they need to know to have friends and stay with friends, because being alone makes you more vulnerable,” explains Dr. Novick.
“They need to learn to use humor appropriately, to diffuse bullying. They need to learn when and how to involve adults.”
Dr. Novick is recognized for her expertise in behavior management and child behavior therapy. She has published scholarly articles on school applications of behavior management, children and trauma, and bully prevention in schools.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: Shutterstock/fizkes
Should Parents Scold Child Who Bullies a Younger Sibling?
Find out what you should do and NOT do if one of your kids is bullying another one of your kids.
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Is one of your children being a bully to a younger sibling? You have every right to be distressed over this, but be very careful how you respond, because the last thing you want to do is model the very behavior you don’t want your children to commit: bullying.
Bullying among kids has been in the news very prominently since the Columbine shootings.
The focus on whom the victims of bullying are tends to be very concentrated among classmates of the perpetrator.
However, what about when one sibling bullies another?
This brings to mind a few things: 1) A child (grade school to teenage) who gets bullied by an older sibling will be more vulnerable to harassment from classmates, and 2) the bully at school may be a victim of sibling bullying at home!
In other words, being harassed in one environment can carry over to another, while many trouble makers are also victims of bullies (bullyingstatistics.org).
Are you the type of parent whose first reaction, upon learning one of your kids is bullying a younger sibling, is to scold or threaten the older child?
This is no time to let emotions preside over rationale, according to Janet Lehman, MSW, co-creator of The Total Transformation Program; social worker who’s been a case manager, therapist and program director for 25+ years in traditional residential care and group homes for troubled children.
Lehman says that it’s the parents’ responsibility to provide a safe, stable home environment for their kids; there is no excuse for abuse, ever, and bullying is a form of abuse.
Lehman explains, “Scolding is not the best remedy; humiliating a child only escalates the behavior.”
I had a buddy in junior high school who had a habit of pushing around her younger brother; I don’t mean physically, but she’d ridicule him.
I warned her that one day the boy would be bigger and stronger than her, but she just shrugged that off.
However, her mother screamed at her one day after the boy complained, to the extent that my friend was in tears. Even at a young age, I knew this wasn’t right.
“The best approach is to clearly identify the behavior: Label it, communicate that it is unacceptable and attach a clear consequence for the rule breaking,” says Lehman.
Parents must ask themselves, “How can I instill in my child some kindness and empathy if I react like a bully MYSELF when I catch them pushing around a younger sibling?”
Dr. Lehman explains that if the bullying behavior continues, the penalty for it should escalate “until it is abundantly clear that the home is a bully free zone. If more parents recognized these behaviors at home, there would be fewer problems in academic settings.”
There’s an old saying that has a lot of truth to it: Kids don’t listen to their parents; they imitate them.
Janet Lehman, with her husband James, developed the foundational parenting programs offered by EmpoweringParents.com.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained clients of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
Source: bullyingstatistics.org/content/bullying-victims.html
Can Martial Arts Encourage Bullying?
If a child or teen takes martial arts lessons, might this encourage him or her to start bullying other kids?
A parent might think that as a child progresses in martial arts training, they will use their new-found physical abilities to go around bullying classmates or kids in the neighborhood.
In other words, somehow, someway, learning the side kick or upper block will turn young Emma into Evil Emma.
Master Dan Vigil, a former martial arts instructor, was on the receiving end of bullying during childhood.
Vigil knows all about childhood bullying; he was the victim of bullies himself — not one bully here and there, but many classmates on an ongoing basis.
And only when he discovered the discipline and dynamics of the martial arts was he able to put an end to the bullying (without using physical aggression) and go on to develop a healthy self-esteem.
Can martial arts make a bully meaner or turn a nice kid into a mean one?
“It’s possible, but not likely,” says Vigil. “It’s much more likely the reverse will happen. A good martial arts instructor will instill a sense of responsibility for the proper use of their physical skills.”
Bullying behavior is never tolerated in a quality martial arts school.
Kids are taught an art form, a form of self-discipline.
They are not taught to be more psychologically, let alone physically, aggressive.
Even whispering while an instructor is talking is not tolerated.
Students must bow in and out of the dojo (classroom).
They must bow to each other before partner-training, and bow at the conclusion of the drill.
A bully will have no choice but to learn how to work with other kids (and adults) without behaving like a tyrant. He or she will be humbled.
Martial arts training provides an incredible physical outlet for a bully to channel their restless energy.
One hundred kicks, 30 pushups and 50 sit-ups — as a warmup to a class — will go a long way in mellowing out a mean-spirited individual.
The bully may become quite passionate about perfecting the tornado kick, and will be too mentally preoccupied with this to bother with harassing the bookworm in his class.
And the “nerd” who takes up martial arts will certainly learn to walk with more confidence and stand up to the mean kids, but this doesn’t mean they themselves will convert to bully-dom.
“Parents whose children suffer from chemical imbalance or deep emotional issues should speak to their physician prior to engaging in martial arts training,” says Vigil.
“For these parents, it is vitally important they select a school with experience dealing with these kinds of issues.
“You don’t want to arm a child with a violent predisposition with advanced fighting skill.”
Top image: ©Lorra Garrick
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Can Martial Arts Change a Bully’s Behavior?
Just what is the cure for bullying behavior?
It just may very well be enrollment in a high-quality martial arts program, especially if the bully’s behavior is for the most part learned.
“It’s possible, yes,” says Master Dan Vigil of the former Dan Vigil’s Academy of Taekwondo in Northville, Mich.
Vigil knows all about childhood bullying; he was the victim of bullies himself — not one bully here and there, but many classmates on an ongoing basis — and only when he discovered martial arts was he able to reverse the bullying (without physical aggression) and develop healthy self-esteem.
“The right martial arts teacher will instill students with more than self-defense. They will teach values like respect, empathy, confidence and restraint.
“Like Uncle Ben told Peter Parker in Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
I myself have years of experience in the martial arts. I’ve seen how this art form produces self-restraint and self-containment in very young children.
I’ve witnessed what this does for older kids who’ve been training for several years.
Martial Arts Teaches the Following
Freepik.com
-Respect for others; tolerance for those who are “different.”
This is evident when obese or disabled students are treated with kindness rather than snickering, even if they struggle with their training.
There are few places other than a martial arts classroom where an obese student will struggle due to their size, without a single chuckle or sneer from other kids in the room.
-A quality martial arts instructor will not tolerate arrogant or taunting behavior in students, yet at the same time, will utilize a controlled temperament to prevent this kind of behavior: a calm yet authoritative approach.
-Kids as young as five or six are trained to stop fidgeting and sit still and listen as the instructor speaks.
-Kids with higher ranks are required to take newcomers under their wing; this develops empathy.
-The school is a sanctuary; for bullies who come from dysfunctional homes, the martial arts setting is a place they can feel at ease and not feel they must be mean to prove themselves or feel in control.
-When a child wins a tournament trophy that’s almost as big as he or she is, they get an ego boost that no amount of bullying of weaker classmates can produce.
Martial arts tournaments are all about showing respect to the judges and maintaining self-control.
And don’t be led astray by movies in which bullies know karate, such as in “The Karate Kid.”
Of course the bullies in movies know martial arts; this makes the movie more entertaining.
If your child is a bully, or you fear he or she is at risk for this, do not hesitate to enroll your child in a high-quality martial arts school.
Do your homework very carefully, as some schools are “black belt factories” and promise black belts in 90 days.
You can’t master martial arts in 90 days any more than a novice can master tennis in 90 days.
“One thing is for certain; training in martial arts will never create a bully,” says Vigil.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Why Do Some Teachers Take the Bully’s Side?
Some victims of intense bullying are simply never believed by their teachers, even though they’ve complained several times.
The psychological harm of bullying is bad enough without having it compounded by a teacher refusing to believe the victim when the victim reports the problem.
I was inspired to write this article after reading a blog in which a girl kept complaining to her teacher that a boy kept jabbing her with a sharpened pencil.
The teacher kept replying something like, “Oh come on, Jack’s too nice to do something like that!”
This type of scenario has also happened to parents of the victims. When the parent brings it to the teacher’s attention, the teacher says something like, “Jennifer’s too nice of a girl to ever do something like that.
“I’m sure there’s some kind of misunderstanding. Everyone likes Jennifer. She’s so sweet to all the teachers!”
The Jacks and Jennifers are never caught in the act by the teachers. Or are they, and ignored?
“Bullying often occurs in areas with little supervision, when teachers are not able to witness it,” says Rashmi Shetgiri, MD, MSHS, medical director at Pediatric Primary Care Clinic in Los Angeles whose research interests include bullying and youth violence prevention.
Thus, the teacher may not be aware. But then again, this doesn’t explain why the teacher turns a blind eye when the problem is brought to their attention.
It’s one thing for a teacher to tell the bully victim or the parents, “Gee, I’m surprised that John’s behaving that way, but I’m going to keep a very close watch on him from now on, and if I see anything suspicious, I will intervene.”
And it’s another thing for a teacher to insist, “John? A bully? No way! He’s one of the most polite students I’ve ever had! I think you’re just being a little over-reactive.”
“Bullies are also a very heterogeneous group,” continues Dr. Shetgiri. “Some bullies are aggressive, or may lack empathy for their victims, whereas others have high self-esteem and highly developed social skills and interact very well with adults, including teachers.”
And if the bully is one of the school’s football heroes, well, this certainly plays much in their favor.
“Studies also show that provocative or aggressive victims can be impulsive, more anxious and less popular than bullies,” says Dr. Shetgiri. “They may have poor social skills and may be less well-liked by peers and teachers.”
Imagine that a popular, bubbly girl who’s on the cheerleading squad and soccer team, with attractive cascading hair and a pretty face, a cute figure and stylish clothes, reports being bullied to a teacher.
Now imagine that a frumpy-looking, loner-type girl who eats by herself during lunch and has no involvement in extra-curriculars, complains of bullying.
The same teacher may believe both, but whom is the teacher more likely to take seriously and assist?
Dr. Shetgiri is particularly interested in prevention of violence among Latino youth, the implementation of primary-care-based bullying and violence prevention strategies, and health outcomes for children exposed to violence and abuse.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: ©Lorra Garrick
The Harm of Non-Physical Bullying: Truth or Hype?
Is there really harm from verbal or non-physical bullying, or is this just a lot of hype and overreaction?
It’s funny how the people, who sneer at the complaints by victims, often were either:
1) once bullied themselves but one day punched out the bully and any subsequent one, or
2) were never bullied and instead were either the bully or were neither victim nor perpetrator.
Relentless, ongoing harassment is not the same as occasional “teasing.”
Nor does chronic rejection and insults from one’s classmates toughen up the victim and make them a better person — even though some victims, in adulthood, claim that all the bullying taught them how to be more compassionate towards others.
“There are significant negative short- and long-term consequences for bullies and victims,” says Rashmi Shetgiri, MD, MSHS, medical director at Pediatric Primary Care Clinic in Los Angeles whose research interests include bullying and youth violence prevention.
“Victims of bullying may experience anxiety, depression, poor school performance, school avoidance, and complaints such as headaches, abdominal pain, bedwetting, and difficulty sleeping.”
Things that happen to someone in childhood (which includes the high school years) can literally shape the brain and permanently impact the mind and thought processes, including how that person feels towards other human beings.
“Long-term consequences may include low self-esteem, dropping out of school, and psychosocial problems as adults,” says Dr. Shetgiri.
Why is this so difficult for some people to understand?
Think about it: During your formative years, when your psyche is being constructed, you’re continuously exposed to classmates who taunt you, say ugly things to you, exclude you, laugh at you, complain when you’re assigned to work with them in a group, etc.
By the time you graduate, you’ll be feeling like a total loser.
Now how is this going to motivate you to reach out to other human beings?
The fear of being despised for just sharing the same room with someone will constantly be looming.
Years of asking yourself, “Why does everyone make fun of me?” has a way of permanently damaging one’s self-esteem and social skills.
If you still believe that the negative impact of non-physical bullying is way overblown, imagine trying to adjust to a workplace in which many of your coworkers are constantly heckling you about your clothes, religion, skin color, body type, the way you walk, talk, etc.
Imagine that every time you slip up on the job, several coworkers loudly jeer at you and call you foul names. You wouldn’t last there a week and you know it. Or, you’d sue!
“One study of school shootings in the 1990s found that almost 20% of perpetrators of these shootings had been bullied,” says Dr. Shetgiri.
If just one racial slur on the job in the adult workplace should not be tolerated, how dare anybody insist that years of being mistreated in the school setting is just a normal part of growing up?
It’s the “bully-victims, children who are both bullied and bully others, who are at the greatest risk for problems that may include depression, anxiety, substance use, and disengagement from school,” says Dr. Shetgiri.
Dr. Shetgiri is particularly interested in prevention of violence among Latino youth, the implementation of primary-care-based bullying and violence prevention strategies, and health outcomes for children exposed to violence and abuse.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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