A police officer teaches students how to avoid being bullied during an awareness-raising class at a middle school in Shenyang, Liaoning province. (Photo by ZHAO JINGDONG/CHINA DAILY)
Left-behind children
Research has found that bullying is especially serious among "left-behind" children, who live in isolated rural areas and whose parents have moved away to work in cities.
A survey of rural students in two (unnamed) provinces, conducted in October last year by Growing Home, an educational NGO, showed that 36.3 percent of the 6,120 left-behind children who responded claimed they had been bullied in school, and 48.6 percent said they had seen others being bullied.
Sun has conducted research into bullying among left-behind children. Her team asked nearly 6,000 children to fill out questionnaires. "By comparing the answers of those who are left-behind and those who are not, we found that children belonging to the former group have many issues. Boys tend to be aggressive, like to breach discipline deliberately and fight with others. Girls tend to be depressed and self-contemptuous－unhealthy emotions that need to be let out," she said.
Many educators believe that left-behind status, combined with most students being the only child in their family, contributes to the problem.
Liu Hong, from Shenyang, Liaoning province, who has taught for 20 years, said: "Being the only child in their family, youngsters tend to look down on others. In many cases, they push someone out simply because they think that person is unpleasant to the eye."
Researchers have discovered that adolescents who are bullied are more likely to have anxiety and depression, and grow up considering self harm. "Some people who were bullied in school have low-esteem for their entire lives and cannot properly handle relations at work and in marriage. Others become bullies themselves," Sun said.
Intervention
Education experts said teachers can play an important role in intervention, while Sun believes counselors should be employed on campus: "Not only for those being bullied but also the bullies themselves because they need to let the anger and hatred out."
However, few schools hire counselors and many of those that are employed are not professionals, she added.
Xi Leng said she hopes the government and media will focus on the issue to change the lives of bullied children.
"When I was in school, no one paid attention to such issues. They thought it was just arguments between children, but for me it was nightmare. I hope no one ever has to go through the suffering I had to endure."
