Prior research suggests that young people who are overweight are more likely to be bullied than those who are not overweight, however, because of a number of flaws in that research, we might not be getting the full picture.
Anyone who has witnessed or been subjected to bullying can attest to the fact that bullying is a destructive social experience. Beyond that, science tells us that it also has damaging effects on our physiological health that can last beyond childhood.
Feeling bullied by a good friend can be especially confusing and traumatic. To make matters worse,research has shown that it is common for children to not address their friend’s bullying behaviours and that many children are likely to persist in victimizing friendships despite suffering.
Many bullying awareness campaigns use catchphrases like "stand up to bullying" or "be an upstander" to encourage bystanders – the people who aren’t directly involved in bullying but see it happen – to intervene and defend the person who is being victimized. But what does defending actually look like?
