Bullies may get kick out of seeing others in pain
— Julie Steenhuysen (Editing by Will Dunham), Yahoo! News
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Brain scans of teens with a history of aggressive bullying behavior suggest that they may actually get pleasure out of seeing someone else in pain, U.S. researchers said on Friday.
While this may come as little surprise to those who have been victimized by bullies, it is not what the researchers expected, Benjamin Lahey of the University of Chicago, who worked on the study, said in a telephone interview.
"The reason we were surprised is the prevailing view is these kids are cold and unemotional in their aggression," said Lahey, whose study appears in the journal Biological Psychology.
"This is looking like maybe they care very much," said Lahey, who worked on the study with Jean Decety, also of the University of Chicago.
The researchers compared eight boys ages 16 to 18 with aggressive conduct disorder to a group of eight adolescent boys with no unusual signs of aggression.
The boys with the conduct disorder had exhibited disruptive behavior such as starting a fight, using a weapon and stealing after confronting a victim.
They showed both groups video clips of someone inflicting pain on another person and tracked brain activity with a type of imaging called functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI.
In the aggressive teens, areas of the brain linked with feeling rewarded -- the amygdala and ventral striatum -- became very active when they observed pain being inflicted on others.
But they showed little activity in an area of the brain involved in self-regulation -- the medial prefrontal cortex and the temporoparietal junction -- as was seen in the control group.
"It is entirely possible their brains are lighting in the way they are because they experience seeing pain in others as exciting and fun and pleasurable," Lahey said.
"We need to test that hypothesis more, but that is what it looks like," he said.
Lahey said the differences between the two groups were strong and striking, but cautioned that the study was small and needs to be confirmed by a larger study.
'Act of hope' by teens inspires bullying victim to stand strong
— Kelly Roesler, The Ottawa Citizen, Canada.com
When Olivia Gardner suffered an epileptic seizure in front of her northern California classmates, an unrelenting torrent of taunting and cyberbullying ensued, culminating in the creation of an "Olivia Haters" website and bracelets.
The 14-year-old girl became withdrawn, severely depressed and contemplated suicide. Her desperate parents transferred her to two other schools to no avail, then home-schooled her.
Then Olivia's local newspaper ran a story detailing her torment. It was read by Emily and Sarah Buder, two teenage sisters from a neighbouring town. Deeply moved by the account, they began a letter-writing campaign to inspire Olivia to be strong.
Now a portion of the collection of nearly 4,000 heartfelt letters -- from supporters, the bullied and bullies alike around the world -- has been published in a new book, Letters to a Bullied Girl: Messages of Healing and Hope (HarperCollins, $16.25).
"We were horrified and shocked at how cruel and relentless these bullies were," Emily and Sarah write in an authors' note. "After reading all the disturbing details of what happened to Olivia, and noticing how lonely and depressed she looked in the newspaper photo, we felt compelled to do something to lift her spirits."
The letters prompted by the girls' campaign range from confessional to apologetic. All are deeply emotional, offering words of support and comfort while relating past experiences with bullies, witnessing bullying or actively bullying someone else.
The book's foreword was written by Barbara Coloroso, a bullying expert and author of The Bully, The Bullied and The Bystander.
"Being afraid and not knowing how to help are legitimate reasons kids give for not taking a stand against bullying," Coloroso writes. "But the cycle of violence can be interrupted when even one person has the moral strength and courage to resist a bully, defend those who are targeted, or give witness to the cruelty in order to get it stopped.
"Emily and Sarah began a letter-writing campaign that in itself was an act of hope because, by doing so, they were saying that there is an alternative to mean and cruel behaviour."
Today, Olivia's story continues, filled with hope, friendship and renewed strength as she moves forward. Along with the Buder sisters, she is a co-author of the book.
Perhaps the book's most poignant pages are those that remind of the most tragic consequences of bullying -- a note by the mother of Corinne, 13, who committed suicide after being bullied for months by her peers.
"We cannot underestimate the importance of these letters to a current, former or future target of bullying and to the bullies themselves," Corinne's mother writes.
"I truly believe that if other classmates or children her age had shown her kindness and compassion, my daughter would not have felt so alone and desperate and would still be here today."
Tax Payers cover more than $6 million in payouts to victims of bullying in public schools.
— Emily Smith, livenews.com.au
New South Wales taxpayers have covered more than $6 million in payouts to victims of bullying in public schools.
The State Opposition says more money spent on anti-bullying campaigns would stop the need for compensation pay-outs to abused children.
The millions of dollars have been spent over the past five years on compensation for children suing the Education Department for bullying and violence.
Shadow Education Minister Andrew Stoner says it is money which could be spent preventing the problem.
“That is money which could have been better invested in toughening up school discipline policy in local schools.”
School bullying claimed the life of Sydney teenager
— livenews.com.au
Experts say the culture of schoolyard bullying could be more widespread than we think.
It follows the death of 14-year-old Alex Wildman who hanged himself after being repeatedly attacked and assaulted by other students at Lismore.
The year nine student, new to Kadina High School, was found dead in his home last Friday.
Sources told News Limited, Alex had become distraught after being attacked by bullies in the school holidays and then again last week.
Leading psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Greg has told 2GB’s Jason Morrison, Alex’s case is just the tip of the iceberg.
“While most kids don’t end their life, many become depressed, engage in deliberate self harm, and the short, medium and long-term impacts of bullying are profound.”
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