More than 160,000 kids miss school every day out of fear of attack or intimidation by other students. Kids who are bullied are more likely to develop depression and anxiety disorders that don’t just go away at the end of the school year. Doctors say the effects of bullying can last a lifetime. In some cases, bullying can even lead to suicide.
“When kids are bullied, they really remember it,” said Dr. Barry Garfinkel, child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Center for Developmental Psychopharmacology in Minneapolis. “It results in this excessive caution and fear they can carry with them for the rest of their lives. Rather than being excited about life, they are burdened with this anxiety that there are people who will hurt them emotionally and even physically.”