Children who are bullied at school are likely to end up with higher wages in adulthoodaccording to a new study, which overturns what we thought until now.

Research published earlier this month by the UK’s Institute for Social and Economic Research found that children who misbehaved at school, had temper tantrums or bullied other children had higher earnings in their 40s.

Children with “behavior problems” at school also reported higher job satisfaction.

On the other, children who had difficulty concentrating and forming relationships with their classmates were the ones who ended up having lower achievement in the labor market and had lower satisfaction with both work and life.

The study used survey data from the 1970s to compare a wide range of behaviors and skills reported by teachers of 10- and 16-year-old children, with education level, earnings, working hours and occupation up to age 46.

Social and emotional skills identified in school-aged children could help predict various aspects of later life, he found. The study took into account socio-economic details such as family income, parental employment and educational status.

The results suggest a need to rethink how schools discipline childrenaccording to the authors.

“It is possible that what is often identified as aggressive behavior is the adaptive response in a competitive environment”they say.

“Instead of a punitive approach, more emphasis could be placed on understanding the causes of disruptive behaviour and teachers could be trained to identify strategies that help children channel these tendencies in ways that best fit the classroom.”