Bullying Epidemic: Facts, Statistics and Prevention

Bullying is an epidemic. It is rampant, widespread, pervasive and the effects can be catastrophic. It occurs in our communities, in our schools – and sadly – even in our homes. Bullying statistics are staggering, scary and merit serious consideration and immediate action. Consider the following:

Facts and Statistics

• 90% of students in grades 4-8 report have been harassed or bullied.
• 28% of students in grades 6-12 experience bullying.2
• 20% of students in grates 9-12 experience bullying. (stopbullying.gov)
• In grades 6-12, 9% of students have experienced cyber-bulling.2
• Over 160,000 kids refuse to go to school each day for fear of being bullied. (Nation Education Association)
• 70.6% of students report having witnessed bullying in their school–and over 71% say bullying is a problem.
• Over 10% of students who drop out of school do so due to being bullied repeatedly.
• Each month 282,000 students are physically assaulted in some way in secondary schools throughout the United States–and the number is growing.
• Statistics suggest that revenge [due to bullying] is the number one motivator for school shootings in the U.S.
• 86% of students surveyed said, “other kids picking on them, making fun of them or bullying them” is the number one reason that teenagers turn to lethal violence at school.
• Nearly 75% of school shootings have been linked to harassment and bullying.
• 87% of students surveyed report that bullying is the primary motivator school shootings.
• 64% of students who are bullied do not report it. (Petrosina, Guckenburg, Devoe and Hanson 2010)

Types of Bullying
When most people think about bullying they envision some kind of physical intimidation. However, bullying can take on many forms which are just as emotionally and psychologically damaging as physical intimidation and harassment. There are four general forms of bullying. These include:

Physical – Physical bullying involves aggressive physical intimidation and is often characterized by repeated tripping, pushing, hitting, kicking, blocking, or touching in some other inappropriate way. Even though it’s the most obvious form of bullying, it isn’t the most prominent.

Physical bullying is damaging and can be emotionally and psychologically devastating. When a child fears for their safety, they’re not able focus on life and function normally. Notwithstanding the trauma that physical bullying causes, most children don’t report it to a teacher or to their parents. Signs of physical bullying may include unexplained scratches, bruises, and cuts, or UN-explainable headaches or stomachs. However, the psychological effects of physical bully may be even more pronounces than the physical scars. Children who are withdrawn, struggle to focus, or become anti-social may also be the recipients of physical bullying–even if there aren’t any other outward signs.

If you think your child or student is being bullied physically, talk to them in a casual manner about what’s going on before school, during class, during lunch or recess, and on the way home from school. Ask them if anyone has been, or is being, mean to them. Keep your emotions in check, and stay calm and caring in your tone, or your child may shut off and not tell you what’s happening. If you find that physical bullying is occurring, contact the appropriate school officials, or law enforcement officers – there are anti-bullying laws at the local, state and federal levels. Do not confront the bully, or the bully’s parents, on your own.

Verbal – Verbal bullying involves putting down others and bullying them using cruel, demeaning words. Verbal bullying includes name calling, making racist, sexist or homophobic remarks or jokes, insulting, slurs, sexually suggestive comments, or abusive language of any kinds. Verbal bullying is one of the most common forms of bullying.

So how do you know when a child is being verbally bullied? They may become moody, withdrawn, and/or have a change in their appetite. They may be straight forward and tell you that somebody said something that hurt their feelings, or ask you if something someone said about them is true.

Verbal bullying can be difficult to address. The best way to deal with verbal bullying is to build children’s’ self confidence. Confident kids are less susceptible to verbal bullying than those who already struggle with poor self esteem and self image. Students should be taught in the classroom to treat everyone with respect and that there is never an excuse for saying something mean or disrespectful to someone else.

Social – Social bullying is a common form of bullying among children and students. It involves exclusion from groups, spreading malicious rumors and stories about others, and generally alienating people from social acceptance and interaction. Next to verbal bullying, social bullying is one of the most common forms of bullying.

Social bullying can be one of the hardest forms of bullying to identify and address – but it’s just as damaging as other forms of bullying, and the effects can last a long time. Children being bullied socially may experience mood changes, become withdrawn, and start spending more time alone. Social bullying is more common among girls than boys.

The best way to identify social bullying is to stay close to your kids and maintain an open line of communication. Talk to them nightly about how their day went and how things are going in school. Focus on building their self esteem and get them involved in extracurricular activities outside of school such as team sports, music, art and other activities where they develop friendships and interact with others.

Cyber-bullying – Cyber-bullying is the least common type of bullying, but it can be just as damaging as other forms of bullying. It includes any type of bullying that occurs via the Internet or through electronic medium. The most common types of cyber-bulling include:

• Text message bullying
• Picture/video clip bullying via mobile phone cameras
• Email message bullying
• Bullying through instant messaging
• Chat-room bullying
• Bullying via websites

Children who are being cyber-bullied typically spend more time online or texting. They often frequent social media sites such as Facebook, twitter, etc. If a child or student seems upset, sad or anxious after being online, especially if they’re visiting social media websites, it may be a sign they’re being cyber-bullied. Kids and students who are cyber-bullied exhibit many of the same characteristics as kids being bullied physically, verbally or socially. They may become withdrawn, anxious, distant, or want to stay home from school.

Cyber-bulling can occur 24/7, so the best way to combat cyber-bullying is to monitor Internet usage and limit time spent on social media websites. Children need to know that if they encounter cyber-bullying they shouldn’t respond, engage, or forward it. Instead, they need to inform their parents or a teacher so the communication can be printed out and taken to the proper authorities. When cyberbully include threats of violence or sexually explicit content, law enforcement should be involved.

Where Does Bullying Occur?
The majority of bullying occurs at school, outside on school grounds during recess or after school, and on the school bus – or anywhere else students interact unsupervised. Bullying may also occur at home between siblings or in the community where kids congregate. Cyber bullying takes place online and via digital communication devices.

According to one statistically significant study, middle school age students experienced bullying on school grounds in the following locations:*

• classroom (29.3%)
• hallway or lockers (29%)
• lunch room/cafeteria (23.4%)
• gymnasium (19.5%)
• bathroom (12.2%)
• recess playground (6.2%)

Anti-bullying Laws and Policies
Currently, there aren’t any Federal anti-bullying laws. However, state and local lawmakers have taken steps to prevent bullying and protect the physical, emotional and psychological well being of children. To date, 49 states have passed anti-bullying legislation. When bullying moves into the category of harassment, it then becomes a violation of Federal law. Criminal code as it relates to bullying by minors varies from state to state. The map below shows the states that have established anti-bullying laws, anti-bullying policies, and both anti-bullying laws and policies.

10 Steps to Combat and Prevent Bullying
Bullying is becoming an epidemic. So how to we stop it? There have been many suggestions over the years, yet bullying is still on the rise. Below are 10 basic, yet proven, steps you can take to combat and prevent bullying in your school, community, and even at home.

Step 1 – Be Aware and pay attention.
The first and more important step to combating and preventing bullying is being aware that it’s a problem and paying attention to warning signs. Parents and teachers must know the warning signs and proactively look for them. The most common warning signs that bullying is occurring and may be a problem include unexplained physical injuries such as cuts, scrapes or bruises, a change in eating habits, anxiety and fear of attending school, avoidance of social situations, and becoming withdrawn, distant or isolated. However, many students who are being bullied try to hide the fact that it’s occurring. For this reason, parents and teachers must engage students on daily basis, encourage open conversation, and pay close attention.

Step 2 – Recognize it is a problem and don’t ignore it.
Bullying is happening in every elementary school, middle school and high school in the United States – and it’s getting worse. Bullying is extremely damaging to the emotional, physical and psychological well being of the person getting bullied and those who see it. It causes immediate and lasting effects. It is never harmless. Whenever a student feels the least bit threatened – even if it seems like harmless teasing – take it seriously, assure the student being bullied you’re there for them, and that the incident will be taken care of.

Step 3 – Act immediately.
When you recognize someone is being bullied do something immediately. Don’t ever take the attitude “kids will be kids” or “It isn’t a big deal”. Yes, kids will be kids but bullying, in any form, is a very big deal. Bullying can effect kids for a lifetime. If you’re not sure bullying is occurring, intervene anyway and politely remind students of proper behavior, respect and educate. If you’re a teacher, always refer to the anti-bullying policy at your school.

Step 4 – Remain calm and stay in control.
Intervene, but don’t get involved. Don’t start arguing with the students. Be respectful and show them what proper behavior is through your example. If physical bullying occurred, make sure no one is hurt. Send bystanders on their way and take the students involved in the bullying to an appropriate place.

Step 5 – Don’t try to sort things out on the spot.
Before you attempt to figure out what happened, separate everyone involved – including witness and bystanders – to a safe place where they can be spoken with on a one-on-one basis. Don’t allow the students involved to speak with one another, and don’t start asking bystanders what they saw at the scene of the incident. Removing all parties involves to a safe place, where they can be questioned alone, will ensure they can tell their side of the story without being concerned about what the other students thing or say.

Step 6 – Don’t try and resolve bullying on the spot.
For the sake of the student who was being bullied, and the bystanders, it’s important that bullying be dealt with responsibly and according to a school’s anti-bullying policy. Making the bully apologize right then and there, and having the person who was bullied shake hands with the bully and make up, just emboldens the bully and makes others feel unprotected from the torment repeatedly administered by the bully. Any bullying should be dealt with by the proper authority and consequences should be administered in accordance with the school’s anti-bullying policy. Anything less will not prevent future occurrences and help student feel protected and secure.

Step 7 – Bystanders need to be held accountable.
Anyone encouraging bullying, or egging a bully on, needs to be held accountable. Students have a responsibility to stop bullying and/or report it immediately. Students need to be taught that any form of bullying is unacceptable and they should report any incident of bullying, teasing, or harassment to an adult or teacher right away.

Step 8 – Don’t pass judgement in haste.
Make sure to hear all sides of a story before coming to any conclusion or passing judgement. It may be that the person who appears to be the bully may in fact be the bullied student retaliating against the bully. In some cases, the person crying for help may actually be the bully. Or an incident my simply be the result of an emotional, psychological or medical condition. Keep an open mind and don’t make any assumptions. Wait for all stories to be told, and all facts to come out, before making a judgement.

Step 9 – Seek professional help if needed.
If an incident of bullying is beyond your comfort level or scope of expertise, don’t hesitate to enlist the services of a professional or a colleague with more experience. Don’t give advice if you’re unsure what advice to give. It may be a good idea to refer students involved in bullying to the principal, nurse, school psychologist, counselor, social work, or even a law enforcement officer.

Step 10 – Get trained on how to handle situations that involve bullying.
If you’re a teacher, counselor, advisor or anyone else who works in a professional capacity with students, you need to learn the correct methods for addressing bullying. You can learn more about addressing bullying at www.nea.org/home/neabullyfree.