Beaver
Issue 859 | 8.11.16
the
Newspaper of the LSE Students’ Union
Judicary LSE Research Reveals Strong Link ‘Brexit’ Row Shows No Signs of Abating Between Mental Health & Bullying Greg Sproston Managing Editor
Luke Anselm Undergraduate Student A LINK BETWEEN BULLYING and poor mental health seems obvious and commonsensical, but joint research from the LSE and Kings has now demonstrated an authoritative empirical link between the two. The study used an impressively large sample group of 9,000 individuals who were tracked over 40 years. This type of longitudinal research is common in the social sciences, particularly in social policy, and provides a more accurate representation of reality than studies which focus only on a single time-frame - thus providing a ‘snapshot’ of a situation at a given point. The research, which used data from the 1958 birth cohort in the UK, shows that around 50% of individuals who are bullied at a younger age access mental health services during adolescence. More surprisingly, 30% of this same cohort who experienced
bullying as children were still accessing mental health services into middle age. Straying dangerously close to stating the obvious, Professor Louise Arseneault of KCL stated that, ‘research has accumulated strong evidence to show that being bullied can be harmful for children…’ However, as obvious as this may seem, the work demonstrates an important step forward from a policy point of view. Though the findings were published in Psychological Medicine, the research included some economic analysis which indicated that the cost of bullying anti-initatives (estimated at around £15 per child), were far less expensive than the cost of mental health provision. Antibullying initiatives should thus be seen as a win-win; good for children and good for the taxpayer; a particularly important consideration given the immense pressure and constraints on mental health and social care in the UK today.
Whether it may seem cynical or, in the words of one third year student, ‘classically LSE!’ to reduce the moral outrage of bullying to a dispassionate cost-benefit analysis, the study should nevertheless be seen as a progressive step given that it has the potential to bring together the interests of anti-bullying campaigners and policymakers who still favour austerity and value-for-money politics. The publication of the
research comes at a similar time of a separate LSE Europe-wide study, which found that 6% of children (from a sample group of 25,000) had experienced cyber-bullying either as a perpetrator or a victim. The findings, which formed part of the LSE EU Kids Online study, concluded that those who had experienced cyber-bullying were much more likely to seek out web content relating to self-harm and suicide.
FOLLOWING THE RESULT of the UK’s European Referendum result, Theresa May’s government has adopted a tight-lipped approach as to how it will approach Brexit, arguing that providing a running commentary will weaken the country’s negotiating position. Until now, the only information the public has received is that ‘Brexit means Brexit’. Following a week of upheaval, many political commentators now believe that the implicit position of the UK government is that Brexit not only means Brexit, it also means a staggering disregard for the rule of law and of the British constitutional settlement. The upheaval stems from a high court ruling, as three of the country’s most senior judges ruled that Theresa May cannot invoke Article 50, the mechanism for exiting the EU, alone but instead must consult Parliament. Their justification for this decision is premised on the longstanding idea that any rights conferred by Parliament (such as the myriad rights guaranteed under the 1972 European Communities Act) can only be revoked by Parliament - Parliament thus needs to be involved in the decision of when and how to trigger Article 50. This decision should not be particularly surprising; anyone studying LL106 or GV101 will be familiar with the concept of parliamentary sovereignty. The idea of a sovereign parliament is not an arcane, niche component of Britain’s unwritten constitution. In fact, a civil war was fought over the very issue. Nonetheless the decision has sparked a vitriolic and at times hysterical response from Brexiteers, as senior politicians and the free press have demonstrated a poorer understanding and respect for the rule of law than the average first year university student.
Continued on Page 3..
Comment Sport
Today, Anxiety; Tomorrow, A New President
Page 10
Results Round Up! Page 31