Political controversies that receive heavy media coverage trickle down into classrooms and spark bullying, suggests a new study out this week. It found that children in California reported being bullied more over their sexual orientation during 2008 and 2009—when the contentious Proposition 8, which temporarily prevented same sex marriage in the state, was passed—than before or after those years.
The researchers behind the study, which is published in JAMA Pediatrics, looked at 14 years worth of data from the California Healthy Kids Survey, a statewide survey of K-12 students intended to identify factors that promote (or discourage) flourishing and well-educated kids. In total, they looked at responses from nearly 5 million middle and high school students across more than 5,000 schools in the state.
via Political Controversies Can Inspire Bullying in Schools, Public Health Researchers Say
