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Bullying Policy in Public Schools - USA

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Front Page / Issue Briefs / Children, Youth and Families / Bullying Policy In Public Schools / USA

Issue Brief

Bullying Policy In Public Schools - USA

Scope of the Problem factual statements on the extent of the problem in the past, current, or future

Teen bullying is a rising problem among high school adolescents. It sometimes causes adolescents to retain horrible memories of their high school experiences. Bullying is not limited to only the physical aspect. There are several types of bullying. Two of the more common types are verbal and emotional bullying. Although these forms of bullying are more subtle than physical bullying, both can have a lasting impact on the lives of teens. In recent years, cyber bullying, the newest form of bullying, has emerged. It is an increasing problem as a result of the internet becoming a huge part of millions of teenagers lives (“Teenage Bullying,” 1).
The issue of bullying has increased drastically in the recent years. Currently, nearly 30% of students in all grade levels report being bullies or victims of bullying. Over half, about 56 percent of students, have witnessed a bullying crime take place while at school. In the United States, this adds up to 5,736,417 students being involved in bullying. Because of this, 160,000 kids stay home from school every day for fear of being bullied. 1 out of every 10 students drops out or changes schools because of repeated bullying. Of the students who do not stay home, 74% of 8 to 11 year olds report teasing and bullying on a regular basis throughout the school day. There are about 282,000 students that are reportedly attacked in high schools throughout the nation each month.
Even more startling than the statistics are the impacts. Bully victims are 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims. Over the last decade, there has been an increase in youth suicide and depression; between 1980-1997 the rate of suicide increased 109% for 10-14 year olds. The majority of these cases cite some instance of bullying within the contexts. There is evidence that in 2/3 of the 37 school shootings since 1974, the attackers felt either persecuted, bullied, threatened, attacked or even physically injured by their peers. 1 out of every 20 students has seen a student with a gun at school.
Up to 7% of eighth grade students stay home at least once a month because of bullies. (www.bullybeware.com)
In a 1993 survey of students grades 6-12, 50% knew someone who switched schools to feel safer. (National School Safety Center)
More than 43 percent of middle school and high school students avoid using school bathrooms for fear of being harassed or assaulted. (Mothering, May/June 2001)
One in fifteen students said they avoided certain places at school because they feared being attacked. (Harvard School of Public Health)
Only 25% of students report that teachers intervene in bullying situations, while 71% of teachers believe they always intervene. (www.bullybeware.com)
When asked, students uniformly expressed the desire that teachers intervene rather than ignore teasing and bullying. (Maine Project Against Bullying)
By age 24, 60% of identified bullies have a criminal conviction. (www.bullybeware.com
Over the years, researchers have discovered important findings concerning bullying in teens which includes the following:

According to statistics from Family First Aid, about 30 percent of teenagers in the United States have been involved in bullying, either as a bully or a direct victim of the bullying. Data also suggests that teen bullying is more common among younger teens than it is among older teens (“Teenage Bullying,” 1).
Sixty-six percent of youth are teased at least once a month, and nearly one-third of youth are bullied at least once a month (2002 National Survey of Students Grades 5-12, Families and Work Institute).
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) students are at disproportionate risk for bullying and harrassment. They hear anti-gay slurs such as "homo," "faggot," and "sissy"about 26 times a day, or once every 14 minutes. More than 30 percent of gay youth in the U.S. were threatened or injured at school in 2001 (National Mental Health Association, 2002).
One out of every ten students who drops out of school does so because of repeated bullying (Oklahoma Health Department, 2001).
Those who are bullied are five times more likely to be depressed and far more likely to be suicidal (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, September 2003).
Harassment and bullying have been linked to 75 percent of school-shooting incidents, including the fatal shootings at Columbine High School near Littleton, Colorado, and Santana High School in Santee, California (US Secret Service Report, May 2002).
33 percent of the youth in the U.S. have been victimized through cyberbullying (Hinduja and Patchin, January 2005).
Teenage bullying causes significant detrimental effects for victims. Although there are obvious physical problems and injuries that result from physical bullying, verbal, emotional, and cyber bullying can deeply affect victims as well. Teenage bullying can lead to depression, suicide, drug use, and inhibited social development. Sadly, these problems can affect victims of teenage bullying well into adulthood (“Teenage Bullying,” 1).

The Menninger Peaceful Schools research project, which began in 1999, is believed to be the most ambitious privately-funded study of its kind. It was designed to compare an anti-violence/bullying intervention to an intervention that focused on individual students and schools conducting business as usual. Researchers aimed to determine which intervention was more effective at reducing bully-victim problems. Schools were divided into three intervention study groups, including an anti-violence/bullying intervention. This environmental intervention focused on the entire school climate with the behaviors and attitudes of all persons in a school building (students, teachers, even administrative and other support staff). The intervention assumed all could potentially be part of the solution. Preliminary findings indicate that this group was the more effective of the three interventions. [1]
School bullying is not a new phenomenon and has traditionally been thought of as a normal part of childhood and growing up. The common adage “boys will be boys” is an example of how aggressive behavior exhibited by male children is minimized or rationalized as somehow natural. Additionally, some individuals actually believe that children who are bullied are subsequently toughened up and, as such, better prepared for the harsh realities of adulthood. Not only are these types of beliefs ill conceived, but “longitudinal research indicates that childhood bullying is associated with adult antisocial behavior, such as criminality, and limits opportunities to attain socially desired objectives.” (Farrington, 1993 in Craig et al., 1998, p. 7) [2]