In the social hierarchy of the playground, the most popular children are those who impose the rules that govern the behavior of other peers and marginalize those who do not submit to them, which often leads to bullying. Previous research has shown that, in effect, most of the victims of bullying are children who occupy lower rungs in this social scale of schools. A new study from the University of California (USA), however, has revealed that children who rise in the social hierarchy during their school and high school years are equally victims of a less known type of bullying and aggression, since that the increase in status awakens the rivalry of their peers and also unleashes ostracism, ridicule and threats.
The team of scientists set out to investigate further into the causes that underlie a situation of school abuse, which, as they have recently shown, damages the mental and physical health of the victim in the long term. To do this, they analyzed the behavior of more than 4,200 students in Compulsory Secondary Education and asked them to name their five closest friends, thus developing a complex network of relationships.
Sociologists found that students who enjoy some popularity are not exempt from the risk of intimidation by their peers, since bullying serves as a tool for social advancement. Moreover, according to the results, students who manage to climb the social hierarchy are exposed to a greater risk of bullying and an increase in its adverse consequences, to the point where they reach the top of the structure and the risk collapses .
This surprising fact does not mean that girls and boys who are situated in the lower rungs of the social ladder, and who are frequently marginalized, suffer from bullying at a high rate. The work simply shows that no student is out of danger of violence at an early age.
