Professor Tracy Vaillancourt: understanding youth bullying

Did you know that more than 30% of Canadian teenagers are victims of bullying at school at one time or another? Among this group, 10% say that they experience daily bullying by students at their school. This means that more than 425,000 Canadian students are victims of bullying at school every day!

As Canada Research Chair in Children's Mental Health and Violence Prevention, Professor Tracy Vaillancourt has been trying for many years to understand the causes and consequences of bullying. Her work in the Faculty of Education is extremely important, because it improves the lives of Canadian children, while providing teachers and policymakers the tools to solve this problem.

For decades, schoolyard intimidation was considered part and parcel of childhood, a "rite of passage" to "toughen kids up" or to help them "build character." Nevertheless, common sense, often born out of personal experience, tells us that being bullied hurts. It hurts so much that some youth take their life or consider suicide as a way of ending their suffering.  Interestingly, recent studies in neurosciences have shown that the pain associated with physical injury resembles the pain associated with peer exclusion (social pain), both of which activate similar brain regions. These studies help explain why it is that being bullied hurts so much and the possible evolutionary role this pain takes.

In her research, Tracy Vaillancourt considers developments in medicine and psychology, as well as evolutionary accounts. Delving into the work of neuroscientists, she draws a connection between physical pain and social pain, and their overlapping development. In light of her research, Professor Vaillancourt believes that bullying interferes with certain basic human needs — to find a place among one's peers and fulfil one's fundamental need to belong.

Text: Anne-Sophie Ducellier
Photo: Mélanie Provencher
Published: February 2012