Editorial: Turning a blind eye to bullying no longer an option

The threat of abuse and harm hangs heavy over too many New Zealand kids. Photo / Kellie Blizard, File

EDITORIAL

Children's Commissioner Andrew Becroft said Unicef's most recent report into bullying ranked New Zealand as among the worst in the world.

The latest installment from the Growing Up in NZ study, released this week, was even worse.

"That is both perplexing and shameful," Becroft says. "And we need to redouble our efforts, both to work with people who bully and those who are bullied."

It's a sad truth that New Zealand students report higher rates of bullying at school than most other OECD countries. And it is proven this sets a pattern which resonates into the adult worlds of work, recreation and relationships.

A study released last year of a group of young people born in Wellington in 1988-89 found a fourth had contemplated suicide in the past year; one in five had sought help for mental problems. Report author Cathy Wylie noted a third of the 26-year-olds said they had been hassled or bullied at least once in the past year - that's after they'd left school behind - and she linked this to the prevalence of mental unwellness.

But that's for those who make it through an anguished childhood. Bullying starts even before some kids' feet hit the ground. The Growing Up in NZ study revealed in 2018 that one in 10 children has been regularly picked on or bullied since the age of 2. Just over a third of children had been bullied or picked on by other children by the time they were 4.

There is a solution being explored. Becroft is now working with the Ministry of Education to analyse schools with low bullying rates to see if there are commonalities. It's hoped the positive influencers can be combined into a pilot programme, ultimately to be applied across the country.

In the meantime, there are too many of our children who will be relieved the school year is coming to an end for sorrowful reasons. It should shame all of us - when detecting so much as a whiff of bullying in any situation - into calling it out.