School bullies succeed in later life

School bullies earn more money in later life.

A new study has revealed that kids who display aggressive behaviour on the playground and tease their classmates are showing signs “predictive of positive labour market outcomes”.

On the other hand, tearful children and those who prefer to play alone typically go on to earn lower salaries once they have grown up.

Researchers tracked data from 7,000 children who were born in 1970 with primary school teachers and parents asked to complete questionnaires when the students were 10 years old.

Other data was collected throughout the children’s lives and the results were compared to the socio-economic status of the participants at the age of 46.

Professor Emilia Del Bono, of the University of Essex, told The Observer newspaper: “We were surprised to find a strong link between aggressive behaviour at school and higher earnings in later life.

“It’s possible that our classrooms are competitive places and that children adapt to win that competition with aggression, and then take that through to the workplace where they continue to compete aggressively for the best paid jobs.”