School Nurses May Be Able to ID Bullies
Filed under: In The News, Bullying
Nurses aren't only good a fixing scrapes, but now they may be able to fix the bullying issue. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
Children may be reluctant to speak out if they're being bullied, but the logs in school nurses' offices may tell the tale.
Nurses often treat the victims of bullies -- but not necessarily for noogies, Dutch rubs and purple nurples. More than anything, bullies tend to create stomachaches and other stress-related complaints.
In other words, they eat away at the soul.
US News & World Report tells of research at the University of Kansas in Lawrence that could make this a good thing. Researchers tell the magazine nurses' logs might help identify victims and, ultimately, stop their bullies.
"If a child is frequently showing up at the nurse's office with a fever or vomiting and no obvious illness, it might reflect the visit is related to victimization and to some extent aggression," Eric Vernberg, lead author of the study and director of the Child and Family Services Clinic at the University of Kansas, tells the magazine.
When a student visits a school nurse frequently and parents get calls about their child complaining of stomachaches, he adds, "it's certainly worth examining the child's relationship with [his or her] peers."
Kansas researchers studied 590 children in third through fifth grades -- identifying a small but statistically significant number who were bullied at six To! peka pri mary schools. Researchers found bullying victims went to a nurse's office an average of 4.71 times during the 2000-01 school year.
About 45 percent of the visits to the school nurse were for complaints such as headaches. Another 13 percent of visits were for illnesses with physical symptoms. And 42 percent were for physical injuries with no specific reasons, based on nursing log notes.
Jeffrey Jenson, the chief investigator in a Youth Matters project that focused on aggression and substance use prevention at 28 elementary schools in Denver, tells US News & World Report the Kansas study makes a significant contribution to research on school bullying.
"The focus doesn't have to be on bullying, per se, but on developing the necessary skills to help children in situations where bullying might arise," Jenson tells the magazine.
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