In recent years there have been national campaigns to stop bullying at schools. It’s not just the jocks pushing around the nerds in school any more, now it’s all about bullying via social media. The idea of bashing someone online seems to come with less risk of confrontation, but is just as damaging.
A new study shows a connection between bullying and teen drug use. The study, conducted at Ohio State University, shows students who bully others are more likely to use drugs, especially in high school.
The connection
A survey of more then 74,000 students in public, private and Catholic middle and high schools in Franklin County was used to investigate this connection. The survey reached across all schools, including those that some may consider “party schools.”
The surveys showed, among high school students, 13.3 percent of those not involved in bullying were marijuana users – compared to 31.7 percent of bullies, 29.2 percent of bully-victims, and 16.6 percent of victims.
The study’s author, Kisha Radliff, believes the two behaviors may feed off of one another.
“That suggests there is a relationship between experimenting with substances and engaging in bullying behavior,” Kisha Radliff, lead author of the study and assistant professor of school psychology at Ohio State University said.
“For example, youth who bully others might be more likely to also try substance use. The reverse could also be true in that youth who use substances might be more likely to bully others,” she said.
The next step
Radliff says bullying was prevalent in the middle schools, but drug use was lower. She suggests anti-bullying programs that aim at younger children in an attempt to stop the experimentation with drugs before it starts.
“Many schools are mandating anti-bullying programs and policies, and we think they need to take this opportunity to address other forms of deviant behavior, such as substance use,” she said.
“If we can intervene with bullies while they’re in middle school, we may be able to help them before they start experimenting with substance use,” she said.
