This paper examines the long-lasting effects of bullying on victims who transition from high school into higher education. Drawing on research by Frank Adams and Gloria Lawrence, conducted on a sample of 269 undergraduate students, the paper explores how victims of bullying during their school years continue to experience negative psychological outcomes — including isolation, loneliness, and difficulty forming relationships — once they reach college. It also considers how some victims become bullies themselves in new academic environments. The paper contextualizes this research within the broader conversation about campus safety, referencing the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting as a catalyst for renewed concern about the impact of bullying on student well-being.
Students, faculty, and staff at Virginia Tech experienced an abrupt end to the silence and peace common to their campus following a devastating shooting incident. The Virginia Tech massacre, as it is commonly known, occurred on April 16, 2007, when 32 students and faculty members died at the hands of a student gunman. While the incident will always be part of Virginia Tech's history, it need not be a defining one — the surrounding community came together after the shooting to mourn and rebuild. However, the shooting prompted numerous concerns regarding the actual impact of bullying on student victims. These concerns formed the basis of research conducted by Frank Adams and Gloria Lawrence. According to prior studies by these authors, bullying has significant long-lasting effects on both the victim and the bully, and victims of bullying in higher institutions of learning reported histories of being bullied during their earlier school years.
Adams and Lawrence focused on examining whether bullying victims continue to exhibit the effects of their experiences after enrolling in an institution of higher learning. The research was carried out on a sample of 269 undergraduate students — 176 females and 93 males — drawn from all college levels. Participants ranged in age across three groups: 19 to 23 years, 24 to 29 years, and 30 years and older. This demographic range allowed the researchers to assess whether the effects of earlier bullying persisted across different stages of young adulthood.
The findings of this study indicated that bullying experienced in high school continues into higher learning institutions. Victims of bullying during their high school years demonstrate its effects in college either through the negative psychological impact of continued victimization or by becoming bullies themselves. In most cases, individuals who were victimized in junior high school or high school tend to be victimized again on college campuses, resulting in feelings of isolation and loneliness. These victims often experience significant difficulty making friends because they feel that no one will listen to them.
The impact of bullying, therefore, progresses from high school environments into colleges and campuses. Research on bullying prevention supports the idea that the likelihood of an individual being victimized is increasingly associated with growing levels of stress and the use of preventive coping strategies rather than active problem-solving.
"Bullying minimized as normal school experience"
"Bullying harms persist across all academic levels"
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