Does school bullying lead to crime?

I have read studies that find that our child, those with LD’s and DD/MR are 3-5 times more likely to be the target of bullies as typical kids.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/961312.asp?vts=090520030635

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 — Bullying is often more than a prank by a child who’s going through a phase. Rather, it can wreak havoc on victims and be a warning sign of more troubles to come, according to a report released Thursday.

THE REPORT BY Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a national advocacy group, documents how bullying spawns loneliness, depression and suicidal tendencies among its victims foreshadows crime and violence by perpetrators.

Still, not much has been done to prevent bullying in U.S. schools, the report said.

The report said for children in grades six through 10, nearly one in six, or 3.2 million, were victims of bullying each year; and 3.7 million were bullies.

Nearly 60 percent of boys whom researchers classified as bullies in grades six though nine were convicted of at least one crime by the age of 24; 40 percent of them had three or more convictions by age 24, the report said.

Report continues at the link above.