Social media and bullying: how to keep young people safe online

For all the benefits to mental health a digital world can bring, such as a sense of belonging and information and support for those with problems, there are also myriad dangers associated with online activity. In the very worst cases, people have live-streamed their suicide and had people cheer them on in the comments section.

Meanwhile, cyberbullying and trolling, along with communities and groups on social media that foster, glamorise or even encourage self-harm are pervasive. Stephen Buckley, head of information at the charity Mind, acknowledges these risks: “It is vital to recognise the huge danger created by any site or social media trend that promotes self-harm, suicide or eating disorders. They can be hugely damaging and possibly dangerous to someone in a crisis.”

This has come to the forefront over the past decade as more and more children use smartphones and tablets. A Young Minds report, Resilience For the Digital World, says half of Europe’s nine- to 16-year-olds now own a smartphone; the vast majority go online at least once a week, and most daily.

Buckley says that people are now used to following their friends on social media and sharing news of a new job, relationship, or a holiday presented in the best possible light. But this can have an impact on individual self-esteem. “While low self-esteem is not a mental health problem in itself, the two are closely linked. If lots of things are affecting your self-esteem for a long time, this may lead to depression or anxiety,” says Buckley.

Pressure on young people may also come from situations where they are being bullied in daily life that then cross over into their digital lives, says Marc Bush, chief policy adviser at Young Minds. “For instance, victimisation in the school playground is replicated on their Facebook pages or their WhatsApp or Snapchat groups, so they relive the distress they’re experiencing in real life on the digital platform.”

So, what’s to be done? Bush says industry has an important role to play. Today, if you search certain hashtags on Instagram, for example, a helpline pops up. He also cites the report from the House of Lords communication committee, Growing Up With the Internet, which calls for a national digital champion who can look at the rights of young people online, educate parents and teachers on how to look out for warning signs, and support young people to understand the consequences of bullying someone online.

The greater part of the solution, though, lies with young people themselves. “Ultimately,” says Bush, “young people are active in the creation, consumption and distribution of these images or forms of behaviour, so they have to be part of the solution.”

Tamanna Miah: ‘I developed severe anxiety after being bullied online.’

Tamanna Miah is now a prominent anti-bullying activist

Tamanna Miah, 23, is a campaigner and public speaker from Kent. She describes how she coped with being bullied on social media and what it has been like to grow up in a digital world.

“I grew up in Sevenoaks, Kent, which is a very conservative, middle-class area. I suffered from severe bullying and racism from primary school to my all-girls secondary school until university. When I went home, the abuse continued online. It happened on my social media networks – Facebook, Bebo and MSN. People would comment on photos, status updates, anything that I was doing. Sometimes it was racist or Islamophobic, or attacking my appearance or the way I acted – anything. People would find a fault and take advantage of the situation.

I was a very shy, quiet child, I couldn’t stand up for myself, or look people in the eye. I would be bullied at school, come home and log on to the laptop and it would continue. You wake up in the morning to check again and it’s never-ending torment and hate. I couldn’t escape. I hated school and my time in education. I was never happy.

I developed severe anxiety and depression as a result. I tried to get support from my school and was unsuccessful. I visited my GP and they dismissed me and didn’t take me seriously. They said nothing was wrong and told me to do some exercise. It wasn’t until university that I was diagnosed.

Now I try and be careful when using social media, but I also use it for networking and meeting people. I’ve been through bullying online and offline, but I’ve also had a wealth of opportunities through social media.

I make sure that my personal activity, photos and comments are restricted, to avoid anyone attacking me publicly or harassing me. I don’t want to experience more abuse so I’d rather keep personal things private. I’d say to others in similar situations to always be careful about what you post and where.

Your online life is always going to be present. Google yourself to see what’s out there so you can check your settings and change them if needed. If someone is bullying you, always tell a responsible person as soon as possible. Make sure you have evidence of everything. Take screenshots or make audio recordings.

Whatever happens, don’t give up – just keep going. We absolutely need to speak about these issues, because if we don’t, who will?”

Social media and bullying: how to keep young people safe online

NHS staff lay bare a bullying culture | Sarah Johnson

Bullying is a pernicious problem in the NHS. That’s the stark finding from exclusive research by the Guardian. The online survey of more than 1,500 doctors, nurses and other health workers in hospitals, primary care and community settings, found that 81% had experienced bullying and for almost half of them (44%), it is still ongoing. Close to nine out of 10 bullying victims who responded have been left with their cases unresolved.

Although the survey on bullying was self-selecting, the findings underline the results of the official annual NHS staff survey. The 2015 survey of nearly 300,000 healthcare professionals across England found that a quarter of staff in NHS trusts had experienced bullying, harassment or abuse in the previous 12 months.

Some 87% of respondents to the Guardian survey, carried out between August and September, think bullying is a big problem within the NHS, while almost three-quarters said they felt the health service did not take bullying seriously. “The culture is driven by exerting undue pressure on others to get things done. If you don’t, you are targeted and eventually you end up with stress and depression,” one NHS manager said.

Respondents who have been bullied take on average 108 days off work and a third have contemplated leaving their jobs

“The organisation becomes defensive and takes the corporate line to protect themselves from a legal challenge and puts it down to your perception. You are then managed out of your job through contrived actions designed to make you leave. All this leaves you broken and with no strength to fight. You go if you can find another job. Otherwise you suffer in silence.”

The devastating impact of bullying is all too apparent. A third of victims said they had been pushed out of their jobs, with many developing serious mental health problems as a result, while almost three-quarters reported increased stress and panic attacks. As a result, some 41% said they needed counselling or treatment after being bullied. The survey also shows the adverse impact of bullying on the NHS, with those respondents who have been bullied taking on average 108 days off work and almost a third (31%) saying they were signed-off sick. A further third said they had contemplated leaving their job.

Sue Covill, director of development and employment at NHS Employers, (the employers’ organisation for the NHS in England) admits the results are worrying. “Bullying is completely unacceptable and the ongoing work to tackle it is vital for all NHS organisations, leaders and staff,” she says. “To improve the working lives of our staff and deliver the best possible care to patients, we need to create supportive, positive, open and collegiate cultures in our organisations across the health system.”

According to the 1,355 anonymous survey respondents who said they had experienced or witnessed NHS bullying, the most common forms of abuse are undermining behaviour and persistent criticism. Just over a third said they were persecuted through fear or threats, saying their career was deliberately sabotaged. One in 10 bullying victims was subjected to violent behaviour and aggression.

Asked if a particular incident triggered the bullying, 55% said raising a concern prompted the abuse. Fear of reprisals means that only 54% reported the bullying. For the 43% who chose not to report it, two-thirds felt scared that to do so would make things worse. Of those who did report their bullying, 44% said it persisted afterwards, sometimes for as long as a year.

“My experience left me feeling as though I had been manipulated, that I was a liar and had made it all up,” said one NHS administrator. “I had a meeting with my bully and came away from it feeling worse than before. I’m now left feeling desperately unhappy in a job I now despise.”

Only 17% of those who reported bullying said they received pastoral support from their organisation – and less than a quarter of these were satisfied with the result.

A YouGov survey commissioned last year by the TUC showed that nearly a third of people had been bullied at work.

Concerns have been raised by health professionals and academics that the hierarchial structure of the NHS facilitates a culture where bullying can flourish.

“Medicine is a hard taskmaster but made worse by those around you who see you as a threat that rocks the hierarchy where everyone should know their place,” an anonymous hospital consultant says in response to the results of the Guardian survey. He warns: “It may well impact on patient care if those who perpetuate the abuse look for an opportunity to trip you up and blow any minor omission out of all proportion.”

Dr Anthea Mowat, chair of the British Medical Association’s representative body, says the survey results should act as an urgent wake-up call to employers. “If more staff are to speak out, they must be able to raise concerns without fear of being harassed or victimised, and there need to be clear and supportive systems of reporting in place,” she says. “We need to put an end to the climate of fear that has built up in the NHS over a number of years, with those in senior positions in the NHS leading by example to make this a reality.”

The survey, by the Guardian’s Healthcare Professionals Network, was sent out to network members via an email newsletter. It was also promoted via Twitter and Facebook. Network readers were also invited to take part through the website.

Nurse who left the NHS: the loss of my role was like a bereavement

I was an experienced nurse working in a fantastic team of staff. Following a reshuffle, our ward manager was replaced by someone who was known for being a bully. She frequently made comments and used language inappropriate for the role. Her victimisation of me began immediately. On one occasion, due to staff sickness I was expected to do the jobs of four other people and was reprimanded when I objected. I was expected to attend meetings on my days off. I was constantly ridiculed and told that medical staff had criticised me even though, when questioned, they quite clearly had not. On one occasion I was physically pushed out of the way. This went on for over a year and, along with the treatment of me that followed, had a devastating effect on my psychological health. I was having panic attacks and suicidal thoughts.

I took out a grievance and was immediately moved to an area where I had no previous experience or expertise. Unable to continue working I was signed off sick with work-related stress. My bullying complaint was not investigated properly and not upheld. I believed that I had been targeted as I had previously raised concerns about patient care. I appealed against the decision and with the support of a union representative and witnesses, I won. But the bully remained in post and I was offered a job in another area, at a lower grade. I was advised by my union that I was being constructively dismissed and not to return to work. I negotiated an exit strategy with payment of a tax-free lump sum under one of the now-outlawed compromise agreements. I am now in receipt of an NHS permanent injury benefit which guarantees me a tax-free income, in excess of what I was previously earning, for the rest of my natural life. I now work for a private company in a non-clinical setting. The loss of my clinical role has been like a bereavement and not a day goes by when I do not think about the injustice of my case.

NHS manager: the bullies have wrecked my career

There is an endemic culture of bullying at the hospital trust I work at. Colleagues have been suspended for raising concerns over unsafe patient care and allegations of abuse towards patients. One colleague had to leave her job after whistleblowing and is undergoing counselling for post-traumatic stress disorder. In my case, the bullying was incessant – my line manager would call me in the evening at home telling me to take time off work and encouraging me see my GP as, in her opinion, I was unwell – I wasn’t. She insisted that I had to contact her every morning to tell her where I was, even at work. Other senior people soon started to target me and I would be admonished for the smallest of errors and for things I hadn’t done. Because of the seniority of these people, other members of staff began to pull away, and I soon became isolated. By this time, I had gone to see my GP who had diagnosed me with severe depression. I have had suicidal thoughts – occasionally I still do. I’ve been demoted and moved into a job where I have no experience and I’ve been offered no training; I’m being set up to fail. I’m resigned to the fact that I will have to leave the trust at some point, as I can’t carry on. The bullies have wrecked my career in the NHS, and my confidence in my ability has evaporated. The whole experience has had a profound effect on me – cheerful confidence has been replaced by paranoia and distrust; I will never be the same person again. To this day I do not know what I did wrong – if anything.

NHS staff lay bare a bullying culture | Sarah Johnson

"It"s ruined my career": accounts of bullying in the NHS

A Guardian survey has found that there is a pervasive culture of staff bullying in parts of the NHS and that it has a detrimental impact on staff wellbeing and, in some cases, patient care.

Here are some stories from healthcare professionals submitted in our survey and to the Guardian about their experiences:

I was diagnosed with an acute stress incident with a critically high blood pressure

Everyone was frightened of this one man who thought nothing of sexually harassing female members of staff. When I challenged him on a decision that was not legal, his rage was spectacular. After one [meeting with him], I zoned out, temporarily losing feeling in my right hand and the ability to speak coherently. Thinking I may be having a heart attack or stroke, I attended A&E and was diagnosed with an acute stress incident with a critically high blood pressure. Anonymous manager

A bully almost managed to wreck my career as a doctor

When I was a junior doctor, the consultant I was due to work under had a reputation for having anger issues and suffering no fools. He used to take pride in making juniors cry and had T-shirts made which he used to hand out to people who were on the receiving end of one of his typical public outbursts. For the first few weeks, things were pleasant, fast paced and intense. But then, he became sharp with me – not tolerating mistakes I made, then blaming me and victimising me. I was blamed for not knowing anything about patients who had just arrived. My confidence disappeared. After a few months, I had mild depression. After a difficult crash call where the equipment was not on the trolley in the right place, I had a clinical incident form put in about me, suggesting my abilities as a doctor were insufficient and that I was not fit to progress to specialty training. There was no enquiry into what happened or how to help me. By sheer luck, I had an end of rotation meeting where it came out that I had been bullied like a previous doctor who went through the rotation. I thought I was just a bad doctor. I progressed to specialty training and continued my career. Anonymous doctor

When I reported bullying, I was told I needed to toughen up

Not long after I started on placement at a trust, a senior midwife turned to me and asked me what I would do if she ever withheld care for a woman I was looking after. I told her I didn’t think she would withhold care and that we all have a duty of care to the women we support. She laughed and then said my card was marked, in front of a number of other midwives. After that, I was advised that I needed to apologise to a midwife I had “pushed out of the way” during a delivery. That didn’t happen. I was disciplined for not changing the water often enough for a woman I was caring for despite the jug never being less than half full. I had paperwork torn up and told to rewrite it as it wasn’t worded the way my mentor liked. I was told to stop standing around chatting and to get “my arse in the kitchen” and do some washing up in front of about 20 members of staff at handover. I was spoken to so rudely in front of labouring women that two said they wanted to complain. I was shouted at and told I was stupid. When I reported these incidences, I was told I needed to toughen up. An investigation ensued but the findings were that the bullies said they were unaware that we felt bullied. I will never practise as a midwife despite having a passion for supporting women. Anonymous former midwifery student

I raised concerns after seeing nurses bully me and patients but it got me nowhere

The nurse/nurses that bullied me also bully patients. I raised concerns regarding the bullying and its infringement to patient care and safety using the whistleblowing policy. My superior claimed to have known the bullying had gone on for years; however she did not want to call it “bullying”. She intimidated me to drop the concern and the nurse/nurses in question are still working. My argument is, as a registered nurse, regardless of banding, we have to follow the same Nursing and Midwifery Council code of conduct, and bullying is breaking that code. Not only is bullying illegal in any organisation, it seems to be tolerated in the NHS. No one should be scared to go to their work, and, after a 13-15 hour shift, be emotionally exhausted due to their own colleagues rather than the job itself. Anonymous nurse

Bullying has changed me for life

It’s changed me for life. I’m no longer confident of getting anywhere in my career, the one I have been working at since I was 16; and all because of a group of people who turned my workplace into the film Mean Girls. I’m still on antidepressants, I missed out on promotion, my once exemplary sickness record is tarnished – I’m on a sickness stage that means I’ll eventually have to face a disciplinary. It was all done behind my back, all smiles to my face, so I can’t prove anything. I know some of what went on as people have told me what happened when I walked out of a room, but I can’t prove it. Anonymous allied health professional

I spoke to human resources but they were no help at all

When I spoke to HR their only advice was that I could make a formal complaint, but that that didn’t usually help. My line manager was helpless to do anything about it because we were admin staff and the nurses, who were bullying me, were “above” us. I just didn’t “fit” for some reason, though my colleague was bullied too. I left the job eventually because of health problems. I was previously under the impression that HR was there to help employees but I did not feel helped at all. I also think that in the NHS trust I worked for bullying came from the top of the organisation and worked its way down. Unfortunately we were at the very bottom. Anonymous administrator

Join the Healthcare Professionals Network to read more pieces like this. And follow us on Twitter (@GdnHealthcare) to keep up with the latest healthcare news and views.

"It"s ruined my career": accounts of bullying in the NHS

Bullying in the NHS – what"s your experience?

Bullying has long been a serious problem in the NHS.

Nearly a quarter (24%) of healthcare professionals working in the health service who responded to a 2014 staff survey said they had been bullied or harassed in the workplace.

Robert Francis’s 2010 report into the Mid Staffordshire hospital scandal said staff were reluctant to come forward with concerns about poor care because they were scared. Witnesses described “an endemic culture of bullying”, and the report provides graphic examples of the victimisation of those who did raise concerns.

Bullying also leaves its mark on employees’ physical and mental health and costs employers sick pay and turnover. It is also bad for patient care. Staff are less likely to raise concerns and admit mistakes if there is a culture of blame and bullying.

We want to hear about your experiences of bullying in the NHS. Have you been victim to it, or seen a colleague be bullied? What impact did it have on you and those around you? How does your trust handle it?

We want to hear from all roles within the health service – nurses, managers, doctors, administration assistants, allied health professionals, paramedics etc. Please take our survey and tell us what the situation is for you. If you’d like to get in touch to tell your story, please email sarah.johnson@theguardian.com.

Results will be published in the Guardian.

Bullying in the NHS – what"s your experience?

What Lionel Messi"s Instagram And 1,000 Americans Can Teach About Bullying In Youth Sports activities

What Lionel Messi"s Instagram And 1,000 Americans Can Teach About Bullying In Youth Sports activities

The Effects Of Childhood Bullying Can Last A Lifetime

A new study in the American Journal of Psychiatry finds what other folks had hinted at but not fairly arrived at: That the results of childhood bullying can final not only by way of adolescence and youthful adulthood, but also through middle age. Earlier research had shown the damaging psychological and social results of bullying to be evident into a person’s 20s, but the new analysis tracked the psychological overall health and cognitive function of after-bullied kids till they have been 50. And the results of bullying – particularly of severe bullying – affected a person’s nicely-being in a fantastic number of ways. All the more reason, the authors urge, to take bullying just as critically as we would any other form of childhood abuse.

“Our review shows that the results of bullying are nonetheless noticeable virtually 4 decades later on,” explained research writer Ryu Takizawa of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London. “The effect of bullying is persistent and pervasive, with overall health, social and economic consequences lasting well into adulthood.”

The examine tracked over 7,700 youngsters whose households were element of the British National Kid Development Study, also identified as the 1958 Birth Cohort Study, which captures data from all the children born inside of 1 week in 1958 in England, Scotland, and Wales. The dad and mom offered data about the children, which includes any experiences with bullying, when they had been 7 and 11 years old.

Above a quarter of the kids in the research – 28% – had been bullied sometimes, and 15% bullied frequently, which the authors say is about what it is right now.

The youngsters had been followed as they aged, and asked about their psychological wellness, social relationships, top quality of life, and specialist and economic scenarios.

It turned out that on practically each measure, men and women who’d been bullied as young children had a lot more troubles across lifestyle. Being bullied both sometimes or frequently was linked to higher psychological distress at age 23 and age 50 – and becoming bullied often as a child was connected with higher risk for depression, anxiousness, and suicidality at age 45. It was also linked to poorer cognitive function at age 50, which is a disturbing obtaining in itself. The authors propose it could mirror the recognized hyperlink in between childhood maltreatment and cognitive function or it could be a sign of early aging, both of which have been indicated by preceding research.

The team also found that regular childhood bullying was linked to lower educational ranges, a greater likelihood of being unemployed, and possessing a decrease salary at age 50. Folks who had been bullied as kids had been also much less likely to dwell with a spouse or partner at that age, less capable to get in touch with on pals in the case of sickness, and even significantly less probably to have met up with buddies in the recent past. Folks who had been bullied as kids have been also not only less satisfied with their lives in the present, but they anticipated becoming significantly less pleased in the potential, in contrast to non-bullied counterparts.

The benefits held strong even after the researchers managed for possibly confounding factors like childhood IQ, the family’s socioeconomic standing, and lower parental involvement.

The query of why the results of childhood bulling span the better portion of a lifetime is not totally clear, but there are theories. The authors suggest that it could be that bullying creates a cycle of victimization that continues during life and impacts virtually every single realm of lifestyle. Or it could be that the anxiety of currently being bullied “embeds” itself into the very genes, affecting the hormones and brain chemical substances that govern the anxiety response, mood, and sensitivity to one’s surroundings.

The following stage will be to discover out what variables in life might lessen or amplify the lingering results of bullying. “40 years is a extended time,” says senior writer Louise Arseneault, “so there will no doubt be added experiences throughout the program of these young people’s lives which may possibly both shield them against the results of bullying, or make issues worse. Our next stage is to investigate what these are.”

But in the meantime, early intervention is crucial. The benefits, the authors say, are robust evidence that we want to consider bullying even much more critically, considering that it is no diverse from any other form of little one abuse. ”We want to move away from any perception that bullying is just an inevitable portion of expanding-up,” explained Arseneault. “Teachers, mother and father and policy-makers should be aware that what takes place in the school playground can have extended-phrase repercussions for children.” And it will be a joint undertaking. Public and school programs can do their components, but teaching our children from the earliest age to deal with peers with kindness and respect will be an equally essential component of the procedure.

For far more details on anti-bullying applications please see StopBullying.gov, StopBullyingNow.com, or stopbullyingnowfoundation.org, or pacer.org.

Follow me @alicewalton or find me on Facebook.

The Effects Of Childhood Bullying Can Last A Lifetime