‘Nobody wants to hang out with you.’ ‘Why are you wearing that? Freak.’ ‘You should just kill yourself.’ Your mum may have said sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you, but she could have been wrong.
Why? Well, new research from King’s College Londonsays that childhood bullying can affect you well into adulthood.
The report claims that children who are bullied are more likely to experience depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts up to 40 years later. Senior author at the Institute of Psychiatry, Professor Louise Arseneault, said: ‘When we compared the effects to other childhood adversities, such as being put in care, abuse by an adult or neglect, it is of the same scale.’
It’s something Ellie Nudd, now 21, a student of sociology and criminology, can definitely relate to. ‘I was at school when I started getting bullied via social networks. In the beginning, I could brush off nasty comments about my weight and appearance, but try doing that when you are relentlessly bombarded with abuse, day after day. I tried to let people think it didn’t bother me, but it left me isolated and lonely. When I started receiving death threats, with the anonymous bullies claiming that me and my family should watch our backs and that they were tracking our every move, a family member had to get the police involved.’
Ellie endured a stalking and hate campaign that lasted for months. ‘Even all these years later, I’ll be ticking along nicely and almost forget about those hideous times when I was a teenager, but then I’ll have a job interview or something stressful happens and the same insecurities and inadequacies come flooding back. It’s something I’ll always struggle with. I’m not the same person I was before I got bullied.’
Ellie is now a volunteer mentor for anti-bullying charity BeatBullying, offering support to kids receiving abuse. ‘Bullies took my confidence away and I still find it difficult to trust people. But talking about it helped no end. It’s important that people realise they’re not alone. Being a teenager is tough enough without having to deal with bullies. Yes, the impact is huge, but they don’t have to win.’ So put that in your pipe and smoke it, bullies.
Follow Tracy on Twitter @Tracy_Ramsden
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.