High Achieving Latino Kids Most Vulnerable To Bullies
While no kid is immune to bullying at school, a new report shows that some are more negatively affected than others. A study conducted by sociologists at Virginia Tech and Ohio State University finds that Latino and black students, particularly high-achievers, show a significant decline in academic performance after being bullied.
As reported in the Boston Herald, the researchers acknowledged the different factors that influence a student’s performance, and controlled for other variables by eliminating family background and school characteristics. After analyzing the data:
The sociologists found that the grade point average of all students who were bullied in 10th grade dropped slightly by 12th grade. By their senior year, black students who had a 3.5 grade point average, on a scale of 0 to 4, as freshmen, lost almost one-third of a point if they had been bullied. The result was more pronounced for Latino victims of bullying: They lost half a point. That compares with a loss of less than one-tenth of a point for white students who had undergone such harassment, the researchers found.
These numbers are troubling given college admissions becoming more competitive year after year, in which even the slightest drop in GPA can make a difference in gaining acceptance to a prestigious university, or can hinder a student from obtaining an academic based scholarship.
In other research published earlier this year, the same sociologists, doctoral student Lisa M. Williams of Ohio State and Anthony A. Peguero, associate professor at Virginia Tech, reveal Latino and black students are more prone to bullying than their white counterparts and that low-achieving Asian students are susceptible to harassment as well.
In the Boston Herald, Williams suggests that the reasons for bullying are twofold. Latino and black students are stereotypically believed to be underachievers, meaning breaking the mold could make them stick out more to their peers, and because Latinos and blacks are often labeled as “tough or street smart”, she claims:
“Schools may think that because students are black and Latino, they’re better able to handle bullying,” she said, “and their schools won’t have the same type of [bullying prevention] programs.”
According to Williams, predominately white schools are more likely to have anti-bullying programs put in place than schools with large minority student bodies. She believes anti-bullying programs need to be in all schools, regardless of race. NewsTaco couldn’t agree more.
Unfortunately, It seems that Latino and black students are facing pressures from all sides. Earning low grades will hurt their chances of going to college and succeeding in the future, while high grades could lead to an after school beating or being socially outcast amongst their peers.
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