HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — October is bullying prevention month.
Recently, mental health experts have seen an increase in bullying.
“It’s a massive issue in today’s world, and we’ve got to look at what the causes are,” said Dr. Rahul Mehra, psychiatrist, creator, and founder of Emotional Vaccines.
“We have high rates usually in the middle school age range but also in high school,” said Dr. Jasmine Reese, Division Chief Adolescent Medicine at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.
According to the CDC, about one in five high school students reported being bullied on school property.
More than one in six high school students reported being bullied online in the last year.
“It’s the deliberate nature to physically, verbally, and emotionally harm someone else,” said Mehra.
According to mental health experts, most often, bullying starts with adults.
“It depends on how families find resolution to conflict. If they shame peers themselves, then those types of behaviors are something that children are going to learn as well or repeat that behavior,” said Mehra.
Doctors want parents to know the signs to look out for that may indicate their child is being bullied.
Those include:
- Falling grades
- Behavior issues
- Change in sleep or appetite
- Increased irritability
- Isolation
- Not participating in activities
Experts said bullying can often cause anxiety and depression.
“Those mental health challenges are also very common in someone who’s being severely bullied or has been bullied for a really long time dealing with it,” said Reese.
If you notice any red flags, doctors recommend creating a space for children to talk openly and ask about what’s going on.
“How is school going? What’s going on in friendships? I notice you have some new friends, or I notice you’re not talking to some of those friends you used to,” said Reese.
With cyberbullying on the rise, experts also stress the importance of knowing what your child is doing on their phone and checking their apps.
“Even when they’re doing video games now, there’s a lot of socialization that occurs with those. So, who are you talking to on there? Is anyone saying harmful things to you?” said Reese.
Doctors believe parents should tell their children to stand up for themselves, not with physical violence but with words.
“It’s important to say no when a certain behavior is happening or tell a trusted adult when something is occurring that shouldn’t be happening," said Reese.
If you do believe your child is being bullied, contact their teacher or a school administrator.
Take them to their doctor, who can evaluate their mental health and take the appropriate action.
Experts believe it’s also important to consider what the bully may be experiencing.
“Just thinking about that, maybe the person who is the bully is struggling. So making sure that person also gets the help that they might need. They may be struggling with mental health challenges or other stressors, and maybe that’s their way of acting out,” said Reese.
In an effort to lower the bullying rates, Mehra launched a pilot program with Hillsborough County Public Schools to teach students about emotional vaccines through video.
“Emotional vaccines are designed to be preventative in nature given the mental health crisis we are in; we are trying to educate the population about resiliency for children and for adults,” said Mehra.
