A report detailing a survey of 1,200 people aged 18-44 has found that almost seventy percent of the people surveyed still suffer from negative effects of bullying years down the track, including low self-esteem and a lack of assertiveness.

The report Give Kids a Chance: No One Deserves to Be Left Out by Wesley Mission sought to research the effects of bullying in later life. The report also found that group bullying was likely to last for much longer then bullying by a single perpetrator.

The CEO of Wesley, Rev. Keith Garner, explained the report. “What happens in childhood follows through and carries on in adult life,” he explained. “How does it express itself? Well, (through) an inability to develop mature relationships, a fear of other people, the inability to properly release anger, and inappropriate anger expressed very violently.”

The report made a number of recommendations including the implementation of programs in early schooling years to help develop social skills and the improvement of bullying identification methods in schools.

The report comes after a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry last week found that the state government is not doing enough to protect young people from bullying.

The 94 page report can be found here, and an executive summary can be found here.

Writer Tristan Boyd, Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.