'Pure bullies': Study shows nearly 1 in 10 bullies were never victims themselves
Research from the Roy McKenzie Centre for the Study of Families shows nearly 1 in 10 teenagers are 'pure bullies', and predicts these teenagers have dramatically higher odds of serious problems later in life.
Bullies grow older but they don't grow up - they just get meaner.
Victoria University research fellow Dr Jaimee Stuart has discovered 19 percent of teenagers admit to regularly bullying others during their teenage years while nearly one-in-ten were "pure bullies" - those that were never victims themselves.
And the outcome for pure bullies was not good.
Children at Douglas Park School in the Wairarapa embraced the Bully Free Me Pink Shirt Day on Friday.
Friday is Pink Shirt Day, an annual day focused on the prevention of bullying and Stuart is calling for a complete overhaul of how New Zealand deals with bullying.
She has been part of a study, done through the The Roy McKenzie Centre for the Study of Families at the university's School of Psychology, which followed 2000 North Island teenagers for three years.
After a break of five years, the team revisited the group as young adults to see where they were in their lives.
They were surprised to discovered that "pure bullies'" - the nine percent of those who as teens admitted to regularly bullying others, but not to being victims - had dramatically higher odds of having serious problems later in life. These included more conflict with partners and family, as well as problems at work and with education.
"Being a bully doesn't seem to predict being a bully when you are older - but it does predict all the other problems later on."
The 17 percent of teens who saw themselves as "pure victims" - meaning getting bullied but not bullying others – had higher rates of being bullies as young adults, she said.
"Teenage bullies seem to move on from bullying to do more intense types of aggressive acts. Whereas, chronic victims seem to internalise this model of aggressive behaviour, making them more likely to bully others later on."
The pure victims favoured workplace and cyber bullying, had lower levels of self esteem, and higher levels of depression, but did not suffer the same harsh romantic or family relationships as bullies.
But there was good news in the findings - 64 percent of the teenagers did not have ongoing experiences of bullying.
Stuart said the current system of dealing with bullying was piecemeal with no coherent direction.
She was running a workshop in July bringing together researchers, policy makers, and others to try and come up with concrete plans to deal with the problem.
International work showed that one of the best ways to stop school bullying was to get other children - not only teachers - to intervene. But pressure was not off schools, which had to create an environment in which students felt able to safely intervene when they saw bullying, she said.
In the study, they asked participants to explain how being a victim affected them.
"Each thing that I was bullied about I no longer do. I was beaten up with bottles because of my curly hair - never wear my hair curly any more. I don't wear unlabelled clothing," one wrote.
"I never leave the house without a face of makeup and my freckles covered. The girls with nice make up and pretty straight hair were never picked on."
While some bullies admitted to guilt in later life, one was remorseless: "It hasn't affected me at all, really. People could and did insult me, and I did the same. It never bothered me, seemed like a natural part of growing up is being able to deal with people bothering you and stick up for yourself."
On Pink Shirt Day, Education Minister Hekia Parata said she welcomed an updated anti-bullying guide, which incorporated suggestions from schools and boards of trustees.
"Bullying harms children and young people and contributes to poor education and life outcomes. This guide supports schools to create safe and positive environments that help improve student wellbeing."
- Stuff.co.nz