A new report on bullying has found almost a quarter of Australian school students are bullied at some stage during their time in school.
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Headspace Ballarat manager Janelle Johnson says Ballarat students are affected by the widespread problem.
“We know that 46 per cent of secondary school kids will have been bullied within a 12 month period,” she said.
“We do look at young people being physically abused but mostly it can be covert bullying that is harder to pick up. Young people can feel anxious, stressed, unsafe or alone, and often don’t reach out until it the bullying is far along.”
The PwC Australia analysis, commissioned by the Allanah and Madeline foundation, revealed approximately 910,000 Australian school students experience bullying, instigated by 543,000 bully perpetrators each year.
Ms Johnson said bullying could have lasting mental health repercussions, including low self esteem, and concern they will be bullied when they go into other aspects of their lives.
“We can encourage young people to be up-standers rather than bystanders, say no that someone is being bullied or call out your mates and say ‘it is not okay’,” she said.
For the young person, it is important they know they are not alone.
- Janelle Johnson, Headspace Ballarat manager
“It is important for victims to understand it is not up to them to change who they are but up to the bully to realise it is not okay.”
The report titled The Economic Cost of Bullying in Australian Schools estimated bullying costs $2.3 billion for each school year group, breaking down to $525 million over the 13 schooling years; then a further $1.8 billion over a 20 year period after the students finish school.
Costs result from impact on victims wellbeing and health as well as productivity.
The $525 million in costs experienced during schooling years include $182 million for carers of students who are absent due to bullying, $5 million for direct primary and acute health services, $28 million for mental health services, $3 million for police involvement and $307 million for senior staff time spent on bullying.
Alannah and Madeline Foundation CEO Lesley Podesta said the findings were shocking but not surprising.
“Understanding these costs is critical to informing effective programs and prevention measures to reduce its occurrence,” she said.
“This analysis highlights the snowball effect of bullying at school and the importance of starting prevention focused programs at the start of each student’s schooling life.”
Headspace Ballarat provides support to young people and their friends and family. The service is open 9am to 5pm for drop in Monday to Friday.
Visit https://headspace.org.au/headspace-centres/ballarat/ for more information.
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