National reports highlight kids’ experiences with bullying, cyberbullying and feeling safe at school
Large numbers of young people report missing school because they’ve been targets of hurtful behaviors.
You may be among the many adults who have expressed concerns about issues
National reports highlight kids’ experiences with bullying, cyberbullying and feeling safe at school
Large numbers of young people report missing school because they’ve been targets of hurtful behaviors.
You may be among the many adults who have expressed concerns about issues of bullying and cyberbullying in the lives of young people. In this year’s annual National Poll on Children’s Health (conducted by the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital), adults rated bullying as their second highest concern. Considering how much time many young people spend online, it’s not surprising that adults rated internet safety as their fourth highest concern.
Hearing directly from the young people in your life about their experiences with bullying and cyberbullying is an important aspect of understanding the prevalence and effects of these kinds of negative behaviors. It can also be helpful to explore the findings of national surveys that highlight kids’ experiences with these issues, along with research about their impacts. For example, the U.S. Department of Education recently published a national report about students’ experiences with bullying and cyberbullying. A total of 21.5 percent of young people ages 12 to 18 reported they had been bullied at school, on the school bus, or going to or from school. The rates were highest for sixth-graders (27.8 percent) and lowest for twelfth-graders (14.1 percent), and the most common behaviors were being made fun of, called names or insulted, and being the subject of rumors. A total of 6.9 percent of students reported being cyberbullied. Unlike the rates of bullying experiences which decreased for kids in higher grades, rates of cyberbullying experiences had the same level (5.9 percent) for both sixth-graders and twelfth-graders.
The most recent report of youth risk behaviors published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) included rates of bullying and cyberbullying for teens in grades 9 to 12. A total of 19.6 percent reported they had been bullied on school property (with a rate of 25.3 percent for Michigan youth), and 14.8 percent reported they had been electronically bullied (with a rate of 18.8 percentfor Michigan youth). The differences between the cyberbullying rates in this report compared to the U.S. Department of Education report might be related to the different ages involved and differences in how cyberbullying was defined.
Both in-person bullying and electronic bullying experiences can have significant effects on those involved, and these impacts may extend beyond childhood and adolescence and into adulthood for some young people. Growing evi