Studies in our journal and others have raised concerns about bullying being a risk factor for weapon-carrying but often our thoughts associate the weapon-carrying with the bully and not the victim. Yet the victim can be just as much a concern for weapon-carrying—at least according to a new study being early released by Pham et al. (10.1542/peds.2017-0353) The authors looked at national data from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey of over 15,000 high school students who self-reported being bullied at school and also reported whether or not they carried a gun, knife, or club on school property. Sadly, one-fifth of the students (20.2%) surveyed in this study had been bullied within the past year and 4.1% of these students had carried a weapon to school in the past month. If that student experienced one or more of three risk factors identified in this study, (being involved in a fight, threatened or injured at school, or had skipped school because of safety concerns), the odds of carrying a weapon increased far higher than those who were non-victims of bullying.
So how serious is this problem and what can we do about it? Psychologists Drs. Melissa Holt and Gianluca Gini, who focus their research on bullying and its prevention, share with us their perspective on this study in an accompanying commentary (10.1542/peds.2017-3033). They remind us of factors that can build resilience in those victimized, such as having parental and peer support, good relationships with teachers, and a sense of belonging at school. Asking about the three risk factors identified in this study when talking with your adolescent patients may enable us to identify those at risk of weapon-carrying before such carrying occurs. We can then work with schools, counselors and victimized teens to create a safer environment. This study and commentary are worth taking supportive aim at if you want to do more to reduce bullying victimization in your patients and in turn in the communities you serve.
