A Study of the Impact of Bullying on the Linguistic Development of Children: The Elementary School Stage as a Model

Abstract

he study aimed to reveal the effect of environmental stimuli, including exposure to bullying, on the child's linguistic development, and to identify the importance of proper linguistic upbringing of the child, and its role in language acquisition, especially in the early stages of the child's life, and to suggest the most important ways to reduce the impact of the phenomenon of bullying on the child's linguistic development. To achieve this goal, we relied on the analytical descriptive approach by conducting interviews with orthopedists and clinical psychologists, and analyzing the documents and personal files of the cases under study. The study concluded that 12% of cases that suffer from language disorders have a psychosocial cause, most of which are due to fear and anxiety, and an unsafe environment. It also indicated that there are 4 cases out of 26 victims of bullying who suffer from disorders at the level of language and speech. It is primarily represented in the weakness of the linguistic stock and stuttering. Despite these few percentages, it is a significant percentage in light of the clear influence of environmental factors, including a safe social milieu devoid of hostile behaviors, including bullying in its various forms, on the linguistic development of children, especially in the early stages.