Just the Facts, Ma'am: statistics

In the United States, in 1991, "about one in four public school teachers rated physical conflicts among students as being a serious or moderately serious problem in their schools".¹ Judging by other surveys, they weren't kidding.

In 1989, 3.4 percent of U.S. students in grades 6 through 12 responding to a national survey reported that they had been physically attacked at school during the previous six months. That number is lowered quite a bit by the inclusion of 12th graders, since only 1.2 percent of 12th graders reported being physically attacked. But 5.7 percent of 6th graders reported being physically attacked, and 5.4 percent of 7th graders did.²

In a similar survey in 1993, 4 percent of U.S. students in grades 6 through 12 reported having been physically attacked. 5% of middle school students reported having been physically attacked, and 3% of high school students did. ³

In 1995, these statistics had risen still further. A similar survey of 6th through 12th graders found that 4.2 percent reported that they had been physically attacked during the previous six months. Once again, 12th graders skewed the results, with only 1.7 percent of them reporting physical attacks. 6.7 percent of 6th graders reported experiencing physical attacks; 6.6 percent of 7th graders did.⁴

(One important caveat should be made. At least in the 1989 and 1995 surveys, students who reported both having been physically attacked and having had their property damaged or destroyed were counted only in the composite figures for physical attacks and property crimes (which were 14.5 percent in 1989 and 14.6 percent in 1995), and not in the specific physical-attack figures.)⁵

Those studies, which showed clearly that 12th graders are the least likely of all grades to experience -- or at least to report -- physical attacks in school, give all the more meaning to a study the University of Michigan has been doing for the past twenty years. According to U. Michigan researchers, the percentage of 12th graders who have reported that they had been purposely injured at school during the past year has been fluctuating for the past twenty-five years from a low of 15.5 percent in 1993 to a high of 20.7 in 1981.⁶

And these are just the reports of physical violence. Surveys of bullying -- threats and harassment -- show far higher percentages. In 1993, for instance, 17% of middle school students reported having been bullied, physically attacked, or robbed at school in the past six months, and 8% of senior high school students did.⁷

Footnotes

1. W. Mansfield, D. Alexander, and E. Farris, Fast Response Survey System: Teacher Survey on Title, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools, FRSS 42, U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1991 (NCES 91-091), as quoted in Student Victimization at School. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1995 (NCS-95-204).

2. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, 1989 and 1995, as quoted in Nonfatal Student Victimization -- Student Reports . U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1998.

3. Student Victimization At School . U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1998

4. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, 1989 and 1995, as quoted in Nonfatal Student Victimization -- Student Reports. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1998.

5. Student Victimization . Subsection of Student Reports of School Crime: 1989 and 1995. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1998.

6. University of Michigan, Survey Research Center, Monitoring the Future Study, 1976 to 1996, as quoted in Nonfatal Student Victimization -- Student Reports. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1998.

7. Student Victimization At School. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1998

Statistical Links

Student Victimization At School -- Results of a nationwide survey given in 1993 to students in 6th through 12th grade, web-published by the National Center For Education Statistics.

Student Strategies to Avoid Harm at School -- Results of a nationwide survey given in 1993 to students in 6th through 12th grade, web-published by the National Center For Education Statistics.

Student Victimization -- Specific statistics from the more general report Students' Reports of School Crime: 1989 and 1995 , web-published by the National Center for Education Statistics

Bullies, Bullied Armed and Dangerous -- Newspaper account of a 1998 WHO survey of 15,686 students in grades 6 through 10, web-published by CBS News.

Peer Groups Influence Early Adolescent Bullying Behavior -- Press release about a 1999-2000 survey of 475 students at a rural middle school.

Non-Fatal Student Victimization: Student Reports -- 2000 report summarizing statistics from (in some instances) as far back as 1976. Web-published by the National Center for Education Statistics

Harassment a School Fixture -- In a June 2001 survey of 2,064 students in grades 8 through 11, conducted by Harris Interactive for the AAUW, four out of five students said they had been sexually harassed by their schoolmates. Article by Jane Elizabeth for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Survey Finds Girls Worry as Much about Taunts as about Physical Violence -- Online survey of 2,279 girls aged 8-17, conducted by the Girl Scout Research Institute- in April 2003. Article by Monica L. Haynes for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Bullying in Schools Pervasive, UCLA Study Finds -- Newspaper report of a study of ~1900 sixth-graders in Los Angeles public schools. Article web-published by Eurekalert.

Study: Students Still Harassed Based On Sexual Orientation -- Media account of a California report incorporating data from 2002 and 2003 surveys. Article web-published by NBC11.

Obesity and Bullying Linked -- News article about a study of 5749 children. Article web-published by CBS.

Gifted Children Especially Vulnerable to Effects of Bullying -- Survey of 432 gifted eighth-graders in eleven states, released in 2006. Press release web-published by AScribe. See also Study Finds Gifted Kids are Often Bullied -- Article by Leslie Olsen for WISH.

Md. to Use Data to Combat Bullying -- Newspaper article about a 2005 report giving statistics on incidents of bullying and harassment in Maryland schools. Article by Lori Aratani for the Washington Post.

Anti-Homosexual Bullying "Endemic" in Schools, Study Says -- News article about a 2005 online survey of 1732 homosexual teenagers conducted by GLSEN. Article by Nathan Burchfiel for CNS.

Vt. Girls Report Facing Bullying, Harassment -- News article about a 2007 survey of 211 Vermont girls, by Daphne Larkin for the Times-Argus.

Isle Schools Must Fight Bullying, Panel Says -- Article about school bullying in Hawaii. Article web-published by the Star-Bulletin.

California Schools Filled With Bullies -- Article citing a 2005 study conducted by WestEd. Article web-published by the Daily Press. See also Bullying Persists Despite Schools' Efforts, Study Finds, by Shirin Parsavand for the Press-Enterprise.

Bullying: Information for Parents and Teachers -- Fact sheet produced by the London [Ont.] Family Court Clinic.

Bullies Thrive on Violence to Satisfy a Craving -- Article by Randy Shore for the Vancouver Sun.

Bullying in Scottish Secondary Schools -- Report of a 1989 study by Andrew Mellor, web-published by the Scottish Council on Research in Education.

Bullying in Schools: Self-Reported Anxiety, Depression, and Self Esteem in Secondary School Children. -- Survey of 904 students aged 12 to 17 from two schools, one inner-city, one rural, published 1998 in the BMJ, web-published by Findarticles.com.

Four in 10 Children Bullied -- BBC news article reporting the results of a poll of 1000 U.K. children aged 7 to 16.

Bullying in School: Are Short Pupils at Risk? Questionnaire Study in a Cohort -- Results of a questionnaire given to 92 short students and 117 controls. Article by Linda D. Voss, published by the British Medical Journal in March 2000, web-published by FindArticles.com.

'Suicide Wish' of Gay Bullying Victims -- BBC news article reporting on a survey of the long-term results of bullying.

Report Reveals Widespread Bullying -- BBC article about a survey of 2500 secondary school students in England and Wales. See also Bullying "Rife" in Schools, also web-published by the BBC.

Students Face Racial Harassment -- BBC news article reporting the results of a survey conducted by the University of Ulster.

Bullied Children Are Picked On For Their Vulnerability -- Letter to the editor of the British Medical Journal, published in April, 1999, reporting the results of two months' data collection, in 1997, on students aged 8-14 who visited their school doctor or nurse for a health condition related to having been bullied. Data was collected on 97 students, the majority of whom were aged 11 or 12. Letter by Sonya Leff, web-published by FindArticles.com.

Control Freaks "Create Bully Victims" -- Results of research drawn from three surveys and a series of one-to-one interviews conducted between 1996 and 2000, published by the young people's charity Young Voice. Article web-published by the BBC.

Pupils Suffer Bullying "Misery" -- In 2000, Childline received over 22,000 calls from children who were being bullied. Article web-published by the BBC.

Parents Should Discipline Bullies -- A survey of 2433 adults in the UK found that 67% reported having been bullied by their schoolmates; 14% said that the bullying had been serious. Article web-published by the BBC.

Teachers Report More Lesson Disruptions According to a survey of 2500 teachers in England and Wales, 43% of teachers hear children threatening other children at least once a week. Article web-published by the BBC.

Teens Truant Over Face Jibes -- BBC account of a 2002 survey of nearly a thousand students from the Bristol area.

New Research Dispels Popular Myth That a Bully's Words Will Never Hurt You -- Survey of 331 secondary school students in Britain, conducted by Dr. Stephen Joseph at the University of Warwick. Article web-published by EurekAlert

Steep Rise in Bullying Compensation -- 2006 article web-published by the Guardian.

Seven in Ten Schoolchildren are Bullied -- Newspaper article about a 2006 survey of 8574 students, parents, teachers and adults. Article web-published by the Evening Standard.

Techno Bullying of Girls on the Increase -- Article about a five-year survey of nearly 15,000 secondary school students, from 2001 to 2006. Article web-published by Life Style Extra.

Survey Shows Bullying Rife in Schools -- Article about an NSPCC survey of 1172 children aged between 11 and 16. Article by Debbie Andalo for the Guardian.

Disabled Bullying "Overlooked" -- Article web-published by the BBC.

One in Five Calls to Helpline Over Children Being Bullied -- Article about calls to Childline in 2006-07. Article by Lisa Smyth for the Belfast Telegraph..

Children's Worries Over Bullying -- Article about a survey of high school students in Suffolk, web-published by the Evening Star.

Kids in Fear of Schools -- Article about a survey of students in Knowlsey, England. Article by Ben Turner for the Liverpool Echo.

Children "Carry Knives to Fend Off Bullies" -- Article by Alexandra Frean for the Times, based on a survey of 300 children by Children's Rights Director Roger Morgan.

71% of Pupils Admit to Being a Bully -- BBC article reporting the results of a survey of 3000 students conducted by Beatbullying.

More Boys Bullied than Girls About Their Sexuality -- Article by Laura Davis for the Liverpool Daily Post.

Bullying Behaviour and Psychosocial Health Among School Students in New South Wales, Australia: Cross-Sectional Survey -- Results of a survey of 3918 pupils in years 6, 8 and 10. Article by Roberto Forero, published by the British Medical Journal in August 1999, web-published by FindArticles.com.

Anti-Bullying Policies Failing to Cut School Harassment -- Survey of 200 Adelaide students in Years Eight and Nine. Article by Tanya Nolan for the ABC.

Bullies Take Sticks and Stones From Playground to Internet -- Newspaper article about a nationwide survey of 13,000 Australian girls. Article by Hannah Edwards for the Sydney Morning Herald.

No Quick Fix for School Bullying: Professor -- Interview with anti-bullying expert Ken Rigby, who quotes several statistics about bullying in Australia and elsewhere. Article by Eleanor Hall for ABC.

School Bullying Can Be Controlled: Study -- News article about a survey of 4000 high school students in Sydney. Article web-published by the Age.

Bullied Teens Often Take Painkillers to Cope -- News article about a survey of 5200 Danish 11-to-16-year-olds. Article by Megan Rauscher for Reuters.

One Quarter of School Children are Bullied -- Article web-published by the Independent, based on statistics from Childline.

Girls Hit Hardest by Bullying Epidemic -- Article about a survey of 4500 15-year-olds. Article by John Walshe for the Independent.

Bullying, Depression and Suicidal Ideation in Finnish Adolescents: School Survey -- Results of a survey of 16,410 students aged 14-16. Article by Riittakerttu Kaltiala-Heino, published by the British Medical Journal in August, 1999, web-published by FindArticles.com.

Bullies and Victims Both Develop Psychiatric Problems -- Article web-published by MedIndia.

Lessons from School Violence -- News article about a survey of 200 primary and secondary school students. Article by Audrey Pottinger for the Jamaica Gleaner.

95 Percent of Primary, Secondary Students Experienced Bullying in Schools -- News article about a survey of 4000 students, web-published by ChannelNewsAsia.

One in Four Secondary School Students a Victim of Bullying: Survey -- News article about a survey of 500 students, by Joanne Leow for ChannelNewsAsia.

Bullying Rife in FS Schools -- Article web-published by News24.com.

Bullying in Schools on the Increase -- News article about a presentation made by two professors at a teachers' conference. Article by A'eysha Kassiem for the Pretoria News.

New Report on School Bullying -- Survey of 3000 students in 300 Spanish schools. Article by m.p. for Typically Spanish.

At least 20,000 Bullies in Schools: Survey -- 2007 survey of 2000 Taipei primary and middle school students. Article web-published by the China Post. See also Survey Reveals Disturbing Scale of Bullying Problem, by Shelley Shan for the Taipei Times.

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