Resiliency Critical To Overcome Effects of Bullying
For the research, investigators hypothesized that resilient youth are less likely to be targets for bullying both at school and online, and that those who are targeted are less impacted by it at school.To test this concept, they used a validated biopsychosocial 10-item resilience scale to explore the relationship between resilience and experience with bullying and cyberbullying.The scale included statements like “I can deal with whatever comes my way,” “I am not easily discouraged by failure,” and “Having to cope with stress makes me stronger.”Items on the scale were designed to assess both the protective capacity of resilience as well as its ability to repair or restore equilibrium in the lives of youth when they face adversity.Based on a nationally-representative sample of 1,204 American youth ages 12 to 17 and living in the United States, results from the study found that uniformly, students with higher levels of resilience were bullied at school or online less often. [...]“We want children to learn and develop the skills they need to deal with problems, and yet we rarely help them engage with those problems so that they can grow in their ability to solve them,” said Hinduja.“Instead, we seek to constantly protect and insulate them — instead of bolstering their self-confidence, problem-solving ability, autonomy, and sense of purpose — which are all innate strengths."
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