Losing promising young lives

Missing people rose-memorial«« Roses commemorate the missing

Stanford University School of Medicine has determined that nine out of 10 elementary students have been bullied.

Six in 10 children surveyed are the bullies as well.

8.5 percent of college age students seriously consider suicide; 15 percent are diagnosed for depression. Up to 25 percent are using campus mental health services where most facilities are overwhelmed.

Both bullies and victims tend to suffer higher levels of depression.

…a child who is a bully in kindergarten is often a bully in elementary school, high school and beyond. Such behaviors are not without consequence, though. These career bullies are not only slightly more likely than their peers to serve prison time as adults, they also tend to suffer from depression.

Perhaps not surprisingly, kids who are routinely victimized exhibit higher levels of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts than do non-victims.

…stress levels among students are far higher than a generation ago due to anxiety, increased workloads and financial strains, often coupled with lack of healthy lifestyles.

“We need to change the perception that bullying at school is a part of life and that victims just need to toughen up.”

A comprehensive study on school shootings shows five common factors:

  1. an acute rejection episode
  2. an on-going history of rejection
  3. teasing, bullying
  4. fascination with guns and explosives
  5. pre-occupation with death

Most attacks come from loners with some kind of grievance. More than half had revenge as a motive.

physorg: bullying affects majority
physorg: mental illness strains schools
bbc uk: disturbed young people

Criminal activity is not an excuse nor always a symptom but nevertheless is a result that always requires our attention and our best efforts to intervene, prevent and repair.