Girl
bullies 'often bad mothers'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/5168518.stm
BBC
- 11th July 2006
Girls who
bully others at school are more likely to make bad mothers, according
to a leading psychiatrist. Sue Bailey, of the University of Central
Lancashire, said bullies were more likely to become teenage mothers,
often in violent relationships.
She told
a Royal College of Psychiatrists conference in Glasgow that as mothers
they were often "prone to maternal irritability". She
called for better psychiatric understanding of girls' aggression.
They were just as much in need of understanding and help as their
male "teenage hoodie" counterparts, she told the confernce.
She said:
"How exactly does 'girl talk' ignite into hurtful, interpersonal
aggression and how does that aggression lead to some girls becoming
physically violent towards their peers, adults and romantic partners?"
'Harsh
parenting'
A professor
of forensic child and adolescent psychiatriy, she said a relatively
small number of girls offended but the impact on society was often
high. Disruptive girls were at risk of being rejected by their peers
and struggling at school.
As mothers
they were more likely to subject their chilldren to "harsh
parenting, interpreting normal infant behaviour as being intentionally
hostile". She
added: "Children of young mothers with histories of girlhood
aggression may be more prone to infection and injuries."
She said
intervention to change the lives of the next generation of potentially
aggressive children should begin even before birth. She recommended
pre-natal programmes directed at high-risk expectant mothers, especially
those who were young and had been disruptive as children, to improve
parenting skills.
