But experts say the consequences are grave for bullying, generally defined as negative actions directed toward a specific youngster or group of youngsters repeatedly over a period of time, including hitting, kicking, spitting and verbal aggression. A new report issued by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development said that more than 16 percent of U.S. schoolchildren reported being bullied this term. Without intervention, bullies identified by age 8 are six times more likely to be convicted of a crime by age 24, and five times more likely to end up with serious criminal records by age 30, researchers say. Past age 8, aggressive behavior becomes resistant to change. Victims of chronic bullying often develop emotional and social adjustment problems, perform poorly in school and show lasting problems years later, researchers say.
Bullying shows no respect for geography, school size or class, race or gender.
Some researchers say the fastest-growing type of bullying is female to female, though it is less overt than among boys. It starts in elementary school, peaks in middle school and does not disappear in high school. But that is more complicated for schools than it sounds, in large part because bullying starts at home. Aimee Finkel sees children taunting and pushing each other when she works as a recess aide at Beverly Farms Elementary School and takes her three sons to after-school events at the Montgomery County school. Her boys have been victims, too.