HIGHLIGHTS: I bet that bully from high school is miserable now, right? Maybe not. A study found bullies from school tend to earn more money later in life.
FULL STORY: Have you ever gone on Facebook to look up an old bully from school, hoping their life DIDN’T pan out well? Well, maybe don’t do that: A new study spanning 50 years found bullies tend to earn more than the kids they bully.
A team in England tracked 7,000 people born in 1970. They looked at how their teachers assessed their social and emotional skills when they were 10 years old. Then they checked back in when those kids were in their mid-40s.
In general, the ones who got bullied were making less than the kids who bullied them. So, it challenges the idea that bullies eventually get what they deserve.
The researchers think it’s because teachers . . . at least in the ’80s and ’90s . . . may have created an environment that catered to kids who were more aggressive.
Quote, “It’s possible that our classrooms are competitive places, and that children adapt to win that competition with aggression. Then [they] take that through to the workplace, where they continue to compete aggressively for the best-paid jobs.”
Teachers stepping in and stopping the bullies did at least make a difference though. The bullied kids’ earnings rose about 5% when that was the case.
(The story reminded us of the first “Back to the Future”, where Marty’s dad works for Biff after he bullied him all through school.)
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