Bullying costs our kids nearly a year of learning

Kids who experience persist­ent emotional and behavioural problems, or bullying, lose up to a year’s learning.

Kids who experience persist­ent emotional and behavioural problems, or bullying, lose up to a year’s learning, says groundbreaking research by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

Children who experience persist­ent emotional and behavioural problems, or are subjected to bullying, lose up to a year’s learning by the time they hit seconda­ry school, according to disturbing new research.

The latest report from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute’s groundbreaking Child­hood to Adolescence Transition Study has revealed that about 20 per cent of young people had reported ongoing symptoms of anxiety and depression, with a similar amount showing continuing behavioural problems, significantly hampering their learning progress between Years 3 and 7.

The release of the Student Wellbeing, Engagement and Learning across the Middle Years report comes as Beyond Blue prepares to unveil today a multi-million-dollar plan to boost mental health support services for young people, starting from preschool.

CATS project leader George Patton said the ongoing study, which began in 2012 and has tracked 1200 students from Year 3 through to secondary school, had revealed a complex “two-way relationship” between young people’s social and emotional wellbeing and educational attain­ment.

The study obtained informa­tion annually from stud­ents, parents and teachers around students’ mental health, peer and family relationships, and school engagement. It found persistent emotional and behavio­ural problems had the biggest negative impac­t on learning, costing children a year’s progress in numeracy and almost six months in reading between Year 3 and Year 7, as measured by NAPLAN results.

Being bullied cost nine months’ progress over the same period. It also revealed that persistent emotional problems experienced in Years 3 to 5 were associated with a 200 per cent increase in the odds of dis­engagement in Year 7, compared with students who reported no emotional problems.

“That’s a huge effect,” said Professor Patton. “We say that the message is clear that we need to have a broader view of what education is about; cognitive achievement, of course, but social and emotional development of children is integral.

“Governments need to be develo­ping strategies to support kids in these middle school years, in particular to deal with mental health issues and school dis­engagement before they transition to secondary school.”

Beyond Blue chief executive Georgie Harman agreed that assist­ing young people with menta­l health issues before they hit adolescence was critical, given that half of all reported adult mental health conditions manifested before the age of 14.

A federal grant of $98 million over four years will ensure the program is made available to all early learning centres, primary and secondary schools.