Children With ADHD - Possible Victims or Potential Bullies

Many children with ADHD are often ridiculed by their peers because of their inability to sit still, control their actions and do well in school.

In severe cases the ADHD child becomes the target of bullies who shamelessly pick on them and highlight their shortcomings.

And in the most extreme cases the hyperactive child becomes a bully themselves, lashing out at others as a way of exhibiting some control in their lives.

Overall, it's a crazy situation. But parents and teachers need to wake up and quickly become involved in these children's lives.

I remember when the reports started piling in from my son's kindergarten class that he was hitting children in school. Some kids were saying he was pushing them, kicking them and even biting them. I didn't believe it. None of these stories made sense to me because it was behavior that we had never seen at home. To us he was a very kind, jovial, and happy child who was energetic and full of life. But to the students and teachers at school, my son was a trouble maker, a clown and a distraction to everyone in his class.

While visiting the school, I noticed that every move my son made was closely monitored by the other students. If he accidentally bumped into someone he was reported for hitting. If he dropped something, he was charged with throwing things. If he spoke to someone too closely he was called a "spitter".

No matter what my son did, he was doing it wrong in the eyes of others. And many times when he was accused of bad things he fought back, sometimes very hard like a bully. His interaction with others was so all over the place I couldn't tell if my son was a victim of the negative reports, or truly a bully as reported. Regardless, my husband and I quickly made the decision to move into action before this bad situation unraveled beyond control.

We did a full court press on my ADHD son using behavior modification strategies to help him control his actions. We also worked closely with him at home to help him successfully tackle his schoolwork, and we treated his ADHD symptoms with various natural remedies and alternative therapies. It took some time, but now the bad reports don't come in as often, our son is doing well and he is on track with the other kids. But not every family is so lucky.

Studies show that as may as 30% of students in grades six through 10 report they've had moderate or frequent involvement in bullying. And in most of those cases, the parents and teachers have no idea it's actually going on.

A recent report released in the February 2008 issue of the journal Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology also shows that children with ADHD are four times as likely as others to be bullies. The report goes on to say that children with the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder are almost 10 times as likely as others to have been a regular target of bullies prior to the onset of those symptoms.

The results of these studies should be a wake up call to parents and teachers. It demonstrates the importance of keeping a very close watch on how children with ADHD interact with their peers. These impulsive children may be really making life miserable for others, or their complete lack of focus could be the result of the stress they are experiencing from being bullied. Either way, these cases require a quick and intense intervention.

Lastly, parents need to know that it is not only up to the teachers at school to fix the situation. Children with ADHD who are being bullied should be encouraged by parents to find each other. If there are a group of them together they may be able to stand down a bully.

And parents need to band together as well. They should contact the parents of bullies and alert them to what's going on. You may be surprised to learn that many parents are completely clueless about what's happening in their children's lives, and your information just might save their child from a very rocky future.