New research shows that children of foreign origin are far more likely to be bullied than Icelandic children.
Vísir reports that the research, conducted by Eyrún María Rúnarsdóttir as a part of her doctoral thesis for Leiden University in Holland, has pointed to some distinct characteristics of bullying in Icelandic schools.
Children were divided according to what languages were spoken in their homes: Icelandic, Polish, Asian languages, and other western European languages. She then turned her attention to their school life, sociality, and general happiness in life.
According to her research so far, Asian children are the most likely to be bullied by other children. 16.4% are reportedly the victims of bullying, compared to 13.6% of western European children, 12.2% of Polish children, and 4.8% of Icelandic children. At the same time, Polish children were identified as the most likely to be doing the bullying, at 11.4%, as opposed to 4.9% of western Europeans, 4.1% of Asians and 2.4% of Icelanders.
“There seems to be a lot that indicates that children of foreign origin are worse off socially than their Icelandic peers,” she told reporters, “They also have difficulties making Icelandic friends.”
Poles were regarded distinctly as they are the largest ethnic minority in Iceland.
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