Here is an interesting article from the Netherlands.  I believe it demonstrates the need of each of us as parents or as teachers to be aware of our students needs.

GRONINGEN, Netherlands, March 26 (UPI) — Most bullies are motivated to gain status and affection so they avoid bullying those who are well liked, Dutch researchers found.

Researchers at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, said 15 percent of children are victimized, leading to depression, anxiety, loneliness and other negative outcomes.

Study leader Rene Veenstra and colleagues questioned almost 500 elementary-school children ages 9-12.

The study, published in the journal Child Development, found bullies generally choose to gain status by dominating their victims. However, at the same time, they try to reduce the chances that they’ll end up on the outs with other classmates by choosing victims who are weak and not well-liked by others, the study said.

In short, even bullies care a lot about others’ affection and don’t want to lose it, Veenstra said.

Gender also plays a role. For example, bullies ages 9-12 only care about not losing affection from classmates of their own gender.

So when boys bully boys, it doesn’t matter whether girls approve or disapprove, but boys will bully only those girls that aren’t well liked by other boys, regardless of what girls think. Girls will do the same in their bullying of boys, the study said.

Tags: bullies, life skills, self esteem