Here are some more facts about bullying.
How Frequently Does Bullying Occur?
There are different estimates of how often children are bullied or engage in bullying:
~ According to the American Medical Association, 3.7 million youths engage in bullying, and more than 3.2 million are victims of “moderate” or “serious” bullying each year (Cohn & Canter, 2003).
~ Some studies have shown that between 15 and 25 percent of U.S. students are frequently bullied; 15 to 20 percent report that they bully others frequently (Nansel et al., 2001; Melton et al., 1998; Geffner, Loring, & Young, 2001).
~ Over the course of a year, nearly one-fourth of students across grades reported that they had been harassed or bullied on school property because of their race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability (Austin, Huh-Kim, Skage, & Furlong, 2002).
~ Almost 30 percent of youth in the United States (or over 5.7 million) are estimated to be involved in bullying as either a bully, a target of bullying, or both. In a national survey of students in grades 6 to 10, 13 percent reported bullying others, 11 percent reported being the target of bullies, and another 6 percent said that they bullied others and were bullied themselves (Nansel et al., 2001).
~ Seventy-four percent of 8-11 year-old students said teasing and bullying occur at their schools (Kaiser Family Foundation & Nickelodeon, 2001).
~ Every seven minutes, a child on an elementary playground is bullied (Pepler, Craig, & Roberts, 1998).
When and Where Does Bullying Usually Occur?
~ It occurs at early ages and in all grades, with an onset between three and four years of age (Byrne, 1994a, 1994b).
~ In the United States, it increases for boys and girls during late elementary years, peaks during the middle school years, and decreases in high school (Hoover, Oliver, & Hazler, 1992; Banks, 1997; Garrett, 2003).
~ Physical severity may decrease with age (Sharp & Smith, 1994).
~ At the start of the school year, bullies begin looking for easy targets.
~ It occurs two to three times more often at school than on the trip to and from school (Olweus, 1995).
~ It is most likely to occur where there is no adult supervision, inadequate adult supervision, poor supervision, a lack of structure, and few or no anti-bullying rules; it is also more likely to occur where teachers and students accept bullying or are indifferent to it (Beane, 2008).
~ It occurs virtually everywhere: In homes, nursery schools, preschools, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, neighborhoods, churches, city parks, on the trip to and from school, on the streets, and in the workplace, for example. It occurs in large cities and small towns, large schools and small schools and even one-room schools in other countries (Olweus, 1995).
~ It occurs mainly in hidden areas and areas lacking adult supervision: halls, stairwells, the playground, areas where students take brief breaks, between buildings, restrooms, locker rooms, the cafeteria, on buses, and parking lots; it occurs when students are walking to and from school, but also in classrooms.
Why Do Students Keep Bullying a Secret?
~ They are taught not to “tattle.” They think telling someone they are being hurt or someone else is being hurt is wrong.
~ They have told or heard someone else tell adults about bullying before, and nothing was done about it.
~ They are afraid adults will make the situation worse.
~ They are embarrassed or feel shame because they feel no one likes them; they feel defective.
~ They feel shame because they cannot stand up for themselves as they have been taught.
~ They do not want to worry their parents. They love their parents and want to protect them from worry and anxiety.
Why Must Bullying Be Stopped?
~ It is more prevalent today than in the past and occurs in more serious forms today.
~ The intensity of bullying has increased because more students join in.
~ More kids are participating—
and even encouraging bullies to victimize others.
~ There have been numerous criminal cases because of bullying.
~ There have been numerous lawsuits because of bullying.
~ It creates a fearful school climate:
- Other students worry they may become victims.
- Twenty percent of students are scared throughout much of the school day (Garrity, Jens, Porter, Sager, & Short-Camilli, 1997).
- It causes confusion and fear in bystanders (Pepler, Craig, Ziegler, & o Charach, 1993). It intensifies normal fears of being laughed at, losing what they have, rejection, fear of the unknown, and exposure.
~ It is a common theme in school shootings as students retaliate for the bullying.
- It is a path taken by students who retaliate: they are hurt, are fearful, overwhelmed by anxiety, angry, and filled with hate and rage, and have a desirfor revenge.
-Roughly two-thirds of school shooters “felt persecuted, bullied, threatened, attacked, or injured by others” (Bowman, 2001, p. 11).
~ It causes stress in students.
~ It causes a lack of trust in oneself to cope appropriately, in adults to help, and in life to be good to them in the future.
~ It causes “toxic shame,” which is destructive to one’s sense of worth (Garbarino, 1999).
~ It causes some students to harm themselves, cutting themselves, for example.
~ Thirty percent of all child suicides can be directly related to bullying (Hawker & Boulton, 2000).
~ It may raise suicide risk in bystanders who are considering suicide for other reasons.
~ Every environment is social, and there seems to be no escape. “Every day of school can be a new social mine field” (Simmons, 2002).
~ Rejected students may withdraw and commit social suicide, and in the process they are robbed of opportunities to develop needed social skills.
~ It encourages students to run away from home, when they are rejected at home and school.
~ It encourages gang membership. Victims may find acceptance, security, and a sense of family. Bullies who over time lose their peer group status may seek association with other aggressive students found in gangs (Cairns, Cairns, Neckerman, Gest, & Gariepy, 1988).
~ Some victims join a cult, drug group, or hate group to find acceptance and a sense of belonging.
~ It encourages teen pregnancies. Rejected girls may seek someone to love, and someone to love them unconditionally.
~ It encourages dropping out of school. Ten percent of dropouts do so because of repeated bullying (Weinhold &Weinhold, 1998).
~ It contributes to poor school attendance. According to the National Association of School Psychologists, 160,000 students per day stay home from school because of bullying (Fried & Fried, 2003)
- Seven percent of eighth graders stay home at least once a month because of bullies (Banks, 2000).
-Twenty-five percent of girls grades 8 to 12 don’t want to attend school and stay home or skip classes because of sexual bullying (American Association of University Women, 1993)
~ It leads to loneliness, low self-esteem, depression and anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress, eating disorders, and other long-lasting harmful emotional effects in the adult years (Olweus, 1993; McMaster, Connolly, Pepler, & Craig, 1998; Rigby, 2001).
~ It has a negative impact on student morale and learning and achievement. Fourteen percent of surveyed students in grades 8 to 12 and 22 percent in grades 4 to 8 reported that “bullying diminished their ability to learn in school” (Hoover & Oliver, 1996, p. 10). Seventeen percent of students said bullying interfered with academic performance (Hazler, Hoover, & Oliver, 1992).
~ It is a root cause of discipline problems for both the victim and bully. Bullied students have behavior problems after the bullying, and those problems get worse over time (Schwartz, McFayden-Ketchum, Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 1998).
~ Hostile children are more likely to develop diabetes and develop cardiac problems as they age (Elias, 2002).
~ It prevents the full inclusion of students with disabilities.
~ It creates societal problems. Bullies identified by age eight are six times more likely to be convicted of a crime by age twenty-four and five times more likely than nonbullies to end up with serious criminal records by age thirty (Maine Project Against Bullying, 2000). Sixty percent of students characterized as bullies in grades 6 to 9 had at least one criminal conviction by age twenty-four and 40 percent had three or more arrests by that age (Banks, 2000; Olweus, 1993). Chronic bullies often bully in their adult years, which hinders their ability to develop and maintain positive relationships (Oliver, Hoover, & Hazler, 1994). Bullies may grow up to abuse their spouse, children, and coworkers (Beane, 2008).
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