Consequences of mobbing in childhood
Mobbing takes place in the childhood frequently in direct form. Physical assaults are much more common here than with adults. The verbal attacks and actions are less subtle and are mainly intended to intimidate the victim.
This, however, extremely restricts the free development of the child concerned.In childhood, a person develops both physically and mentally extremely quickly. It is precisely at this time that a person’s mind is particularly susceptible to external influences. In childhood and youth the personality is formed significantly.
If a child is now disturbed in this phase of development by mobbing, this can leave lasting damage. The self-esteem suffers extremely from the Mobbingattacken, which affects the development of the personal characteristics negatively. It could be already observed that former Mobbingopfer, although they are exposed to no more psychological terror or these years lie back, still for a long time deficits in social handling exhibit.
The problems are, for example, in dealing with criticism, establishing new social relationships, teamwork and confrontation with new people or situations. Adults who were bullied in their childhood encounter problems in everyday life more often than people with a relatively uneventful childhood. The psychological scars that bullying leaves behind in childhood sometimes remain for life.
For the victims it is a hard and lengthy work to regain confidence in themselves, but also in other people. It is not uncommon for these people to have to undergo psychotherapy, as independent problem solving does not seem achievable. If bullying is practiced by family members, the psychological consequences are usually even more devastating.
If other relatives, acquaintances, educators or teachers recognize a similar family-internal problem, family counseling or, in harder cases, the youth welfare office should be called in for the child’s well-being. For the perpetrators, mobbing among children unfortunately often does not have such far-reaching consequences. Often such actions are dismissed as childish nonsense, whereby the responsibility lies with the educators, teachers and above all the parents.
A legal prosecution of the perpetrators is usually not directly possible due to the young age of the persons involved. However, with the help of lawyers, cease and desist agreements can be obtained with the parents of the perpetrators, which should be effective at the latest because of the following penalties for breach of contract. It is important to prevent bullying in childhood as far as possible in order to guarantee the children a protected growing up and the free development of their personality.
