Bullying Statistics: Breakdown by the Facts and Figures

Most people think that bullying is limited to school kids only, but very few of us are aware that it is a common thing in colleges and workplaces as well. 

Bullying is equally harmful, be it at the school level for kids or at the college and office level for adults. Put in simple words, it is a violation of our safety and dignity in shared spaces like schools, colleges, and workplaces. In most cases, it is a common scenario that college faculty and staff are not concerned and do not intervene or are less likely to mediate in such disputes.

These days more and more people are becoming aware of the various issues related to bullying. Many schools and colleges observe bullying awareness day to bring attention to the gravity of the problem.

General Statistics on Bullying – 2020 

  • According to bully statistics, the percentage of students varies anywhere between 9% to 98%.
  • A study was conducted by the US National Library of Medicine, which explored bullying over 1025 students at the college level by students and teachers, it was found that out of 1025 undergraduates students, 24.7% bully other students occasionally while 2.8% do it very frequently.
  • 4.2% of students had been bullied by teachers occasionally and 5% very frequently. 3.2% of students had bullied other students occasionally and 1.9% very frequently.
  • 49% of children in grades four to 12 have been bullied by other students at school level at least once.
  • 23% of college-goers stated to have been bullied two or more times in the past month.
  • 20% of the US students in grades nine to 12 reported being bullied.
  • 71% of youth have witnessed bullying at school.
  • 70% of school staff have reported being a witness to bullying.
  • Statistics on Facebook bullying found that at least 1 million kids were bullied on Facebook in 2017 alone.

Where Bullying Occurs

Bullying can occur anywhere – on the playground, in the school hallways, in the classroom, or online.

School Bullies Statistics

1. A high percentage of middle school students have reported being bullied in various places in classrooms.

29% reported being bullied in classrooms, while 29% reported being bullied in the hallway or at their lockers.

2. 23% of students were bullied in other places like the cafeteria.

while 23% reported bullying in common places like cafeterias, 29% reported bullying in physical education classes, 12% in the bathrooms, and 6% on the playground.

3. 41% of students who reported being bullied at school indicated of the repetition of the incident.

Among this, 13 % were made fun of or insulted, 13% were rumored against; 5% were physically assaulted like being pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on, and 5% were completely devoid of activities on purpose.

Cyberbullying Statistics

Cyberbullying is an emerging form of bullying where technology is misused for threatening, embarrassing, and threatening other people.

4. 15% of students reported being cyberbullied.

15% of students between the ages of 12 and 18 reported being bullied at school. They said they were either bullied online or sent texts. Incidents of cyberbullying have been reported the maximum among middle school students, then students of high school followed by primary school ones.

5. The percentage of individuals being cyberbullied reached 18% to 37% between 2007-2019.

The percentage of cyberbullying has doubled between 2007-2019. 25% of students said they were cyberbullied using hurting comments, and 22% reported spreading rumors.

6. Cyberbullying varies depending on gender.

Girls reported being bullied by being rumored while boys reported getting threatened online.

Workplace Bullying Statistics

If people think that bullying ends with school and college, then it’s wrong. Let us look at some staggering statistics related to workplace bullying. Here are some facts about bullying at the workplace:

7. 94% of 2081 employees reported being bullied in the workplace.

According to a 2019 survey by Monster.com on 2081 employees, 94% reported having been bullied numerous times in their workplace, which is an increase of 19% over the last eleven years. Over 51% of respondents reported being bullied by their boss or manager. 

8. Employees were bullied using various methods at the workplace.

23.3% reported being bullied by aggressive emails, 20.2% by negative gossips of coworkers, and 17.8% by yelling by others.

Types of Bullying

LGBT Bully Statistics

9. 70% of LGBT students are bullied because of their sexuality.

Among these, 70.1% of students, 28.9% were bullied just because of their sexual orientation. 59.5% of LGBT students felt safety issues at school due to their sexuality.

10. 34.8% of students missed at least a complete day at school every month.

Of the majority of LGBT students thinking of dropping out, 42% stated harassment they had gone through at school as the main reason for it.

Physical Bullying Statistics

Physical bullying is the outcome of people using physical actions to excite, dominate, and control another person. It could be in the form of physical abuse involving hitting, pushing, kicking, or even slapping. 

It can also involve stealing or damaging others’ properties and belongings. You know you are physically abused when people around you continuously push, shove, taunt, or hit you. 

Every month thousands of students have to face some of the other physical assaults in secondary schools in the US, and the school bullies statistics keep growing every month. Physical bullying can be damaging both physically and psychologically. When a child fears that his safety is at stake, then he cannot focus on life in a normal manner. 

In many of the physical bullying cases, children do not report it to teachers or parents, and they undergo physical trauma all by themselves. Though physical scars are bad for children, emotional scars are even worse. Children undergo stress, struggle to keep their focus, and in many cases, they become anti-social.

Some social bullying statistics:

11. Only 36% being bullied report it.

This implies that 64% of students who are bullied do not report it to an adult. In more than 50% of the bullying scenarios, if another kid steps in to help, the bullying might stop.

12. 29% of students at Middle School went through physical bullying.

29% of students went through a physical assault in the form of being hit, slapped, or kicked.

Verbal Bullying Statistics

Verbal bullying is another form by which school children or college students are commonly bullied. Though it does not involve any physical assault, it is equally traumatic as physical bullying. Other than teasing, verbal bullying involves actions like taunting, intimidating, and threatening, repeated name-calling, remarks, and sexually directed comments. 

Students who undergo verbal bullying experience depression, anxiety, lack of sleep, lower academic achievement, and dropping out of school. In most cases, verbal bullying is used for degrading or insulting another person and being dominant over him/her. It is not wrong to say that words are mightier than the sword, and verbal bullying can have the worst consequences even if the victim has not got any physical injuries.

13. 27% of the middle school student reported being threatened.

Among these, 9% reported that verbal bullying takes a toll on their physical health also.

14. Bullying In the US is very common, 1 out of 5 students between the age group 12 – 18 has been verbally bullied.

It has been reported that in the US, approximately 160,000 teenagers have skipped their schools for fear of being bullied.

Bullying Demographics 

Racial Bullying statistics

Schools are responsible for ensuring uniformity at all levels. They must ensure that students from all backgrounds feel safe and equal, but still, most of them have to undergo racial bullying every year. Racist bullying happens when a student is being mocked upon, belittled, or shamed because of his/her physical appearance, ethnicity, religious and cultural practices, accent, and dressing.

Racial bullying could be casual, involving casual remarks, and very hurtful where remarks are deliberate physical or verbal attacks. Unfortunately, racial bullying is most common in schools.

15. In 2017, 4590, cases of racial abuse were reported in the UK alone.

This was a drastic increase in the racial abuse cases from 4085 in the previous year. 

16.  More than one-third of teenagers reported racial bullying at schools.

23% of black, 23% of white, 16% of Hispanics, and 7% of Asian students report having been bullied at school. Most of the time, racial bullying is associated with compromised physical and negative emotional health.

Gender Bullying Statistics

When it comes to bullying, boys and girls are treated differently. It has been observed that boys are more physically aggressive than girls. While girls bully other girls by using relative aggression, they tend to resort to verbal assault, spreading rumors, gossiping. They are also more involved in groups. 

Also, they experience more sexual bullying as compared to boys. They are more likely to spread rumors of sexual validity irrespective of its validity. They are also more likely to be at the receiving end of sexual messages from boys.

17. 23% of females and 19% of males have undergone bullying at the school level.

While boys were more likely to say someone hurt them by sending messages online.

Teen Bullying Statistics

18. Around 160,000 teenagers skip schools because of being bullied.

Teenagers experience the most bullying on Instagram. 

19. Approximately, 15% of teenagers in the US experienced unwanted messages.

18% of teenagers aged between 15-17 years and 11% of the younger age group experienced that people who bullied them used to send their private messages to others or used to share them publicly.

Stats on Bullying in America (by State)

20. 36.5% of students in the US have been the victim of cyberbullying.

In 2019, 36.5% of students in middle school and high school experienced cyberbullying. High school bullying is very common in the U.S.

21. Louisiana had a 21.2% electronic bullying rate in 2017.

This state has the highest percentage of electronic cyberbullying

22. Delaware has a 10.1% cyberbullying rate.
23. Alaska had a cyberbullying rate of 19.8%.
24. Missouri had a cyberbullying rate of 19.4%.

Suicide and Bullying Statistics and Facts 

Bullying often leads to suicidal tendencies among children and youth. It leads to psychological disorders related to depression, violent behavior, and drug abuse.

Students reporting frequent bullying by others are at a high risk of suicidal behavior.

25. Victims of bullying by peers are 2.2 times more likely to develop a suicidal tendency

These students are 2.6 times more likely to commit suicide as compared to the normal students

26. Students who are bullied and involved in such behavior are at a higher risk of such outcomes

Students who believe that suicide is a natural response against bullying behavior are highly mistaken and create such a belief system in other students too.

Quick Anti-bullying Facts

27. One in three students in the U.S. admit of being bullied

Most of the bullying, including verbal and social bullying, takes place in middle school. Few of them are cyberbullied as well.

28. Young people are more at risk of being bullied.

Bullying impacts all equally, but some effects might last till adulthood too.

29. Bullying is a group phenomenon

Bullying is not a straight interaction between two individuals — one who bullies and the other who is bullied. In fact, it often involves groups that extend support to each other while bullying.

30. There is no connection between adults and youth

It has been observed that there is a disconnect between the experience of young people of getting bullied and that of how adults perceive it.


While it is difficult to stop the practice of bullying overnight, it is important to take initiatives to resolve the problem by creating awareness, understanding the issue better, and inducing safer, inclusive learning and working spaces.
The experience of getting bullied while at college can have a negative impact on the educational experience. Many schools and colleges are doing their best to promote anti-bullying campaigns and create awareness among students regarding this matter.

Frequently Asked Questions
Do school uniforms decrease bullying statistics?

The prevalence of school uniforms is on the rise in US schools.
According to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics, approximately 20% of public schools have made uniforms mandatory.
According to recent data, within one year after the implementation of uniforms, there was a remarkable decrease in bullying cases, broadly the fights at school decreased by 50%, and sexual offenses by 74%.

What grade is bullying most common in?

Most of the bullying takes place in middle school. It has been observed that bullying is most common in higher grades, which are grades 9 and 10. According to a survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, 19% of the students who were studying in grades 9 and 10 reported being bullied in the school premises in the last 12 months.

How many kids are bullied each year?

One out of five teenagers is being bullied. 5.4 million are afraid of being bullied and prefer staying home.

How many cases of bullying are reported each year?

Parents are reported that their children getting bullied either at school or online,
47.7% of parents with kids aged between 6 – 10; 56.4% of kids aged between 11-13 and 54.3% with kids 19 years and older reported bullying.

Helen Vlasova

Helen is the co-founder of admissionsly.com, a career guidance website for students and young professionals.