Bullying statistics

General Statistics

One out of every four students (22%) report being bullied during the
school year. (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2015)

64 percent of children who were bullied did not report it; only 36
percent reported the bullying. (Petrosina, Guckenburg, DeVoe,
and Hanson, 2010)

More than half of bullying situations (57 percent) stop when a peer
intervenes on behalf of the student being bullied. (Hawkins, Pepler,
and Craig, 2001)

School-based bullying prevention programs decrease bullying by up to

25%. (McCallion and Feder, 2013)

The reasons for being bullied reported most often by students were
looks (55%), body shape (37%), and race (16%). (Davis and Nixon,
2010)

Effects of Bullying

Students who experience bullying are at increased risk for poor school
adjustment, sleep difficulties, anxiety, and depression. (Center for
Disease Control, 2015)

Students who engage in bullying behavior are at increased risk for

academic problems, substance use, and violent behavior later in
adolescence and adulthood. (Center for Disease Control, 2015)

Students who are both targets of bullying and engage in bullying

behavior are at greater risk for both mental health and behavior
problems than students who only bully or are only bullied. (Center for
Disease Control, 2015)

Students who experience bullying are twice as likely as non-bullied

peers to experience negative health effects such as headaches and
stomachaches. (Gini and Pozzoli, 2013)

Cyberbullying

19.6% of high school students in the US report being bullied at school

in the past year. 14.8% reported being bullied online. (Center for
Disease Control, 2014)

90% of teens who report being cyberbullied have also been bullied
offline. (Seven Fears and the Science of How Mobile
Technologies May Be Influencing Adolescents in the Digital
Age, George and Odgers, 2015)

Statistics about bullying of students with disabilities

Only 10 U.S. studies have been conducted on the connection between

bullying and developmental disabilities, but all of these studies found
that children with disabilities were two to three times more likely to be
bullied than their nondisabled peers. (Disabilities: Insights from
across fields and around the world; Marshall, Kendall, Banks &
Gover (Eds.), 2009)

Researchers discovered that students with disabilities were more

worried about school safety and being injured or harassed by other
peers compared to students without a disability. (Saylor & Leach,
2009)

The National Autistic Society reports that 40 percent of children with

autism and 60 percent of children with Aspergers syndrome have
experienced bullying. (Bullying: A Guide for Parents)

When reporting bullying youth in special education were told not to

tattle almost twice as often as youth not in special education. (Davis
and Nixon, 2010)

Statistics about bullying of students of color

More than one third of adolescents reporting bullying report biasbased school bullying. (Russell, Sinclair, Poteat, and Koenig,
2012)

Bias-based bullying is more strongly associated with compromised

health than general bullying. (Russell, Sinclair, Poteat, and
Koenig, 2012)

Race-related bullying is significantly associated with negative

emotional and physical health effects. (Rosenthal et al, 2013)

Statistics about bullying of students who identify or are perceived

as LGBTQ

81.9% of students who identify as LGBTQ were bullied in the last year
based on their sexual orientation. (National School Climate Survey,
2011).

Peer victimization of all youth was less likely to occur in schools with
bullying policies that are inclusive of LGBTQ students.
(Hatzenbuehler and Keyes, 2012)

63.5% of students feel unsafe because of their sexual orientation, and

43.9% because of their gender expression. (National School
Climate Survey, 2011)

31.8% of LGBTQ students missed at least one entire day of school in

the past month because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable. (National
School Climate Survey, 2011).

Weight-Based Bullying

64% of students enrolled in weight-loss programs reported

experiencing weight-based victimization. (Puhl, Peterson, and
Luedicke, 2012)

One third of girls and one fourth of boys report weight-based teasing
from peers, but prevalence rates increase to approximately 60%
among the heaviest students. (Puhl, Luedicke, and Heuer, 2011)

84% of students observed students perceived as overweight being

called names or getting teased during physical activities. (Puhl,
Luedicke, and Heuer, 2011)

Bullying and Suicide

There is a strong association between bullying and suicide-related

behaviors, but this relationship is often mediated by other factors,
including depression and delinquency. (Hertz, Donato, and Wright,
2013)

Students who bully others, are bullied, or witness bullying are more
likely to report high levels of suicide-related behavior than students
who report no involvement in bullying. (Center for Disease Control,
2014)

Students victimized by their peers were 2.4 times more likely to report
suicidal ideation and 3.3 times more likely to report a suicide attempt
than youth who reported not being bullied. (Espelage and Holt,
2013)

Students who are both bullied and engage in bullying behavior are the
highest risk group for adverse outcomes. (Espelage and Holt, 2013)

Suicide is not a natural response to being bullied. This myth has the
dangerous potential to normalize suicide behavior in response to
suicide and thereby create copycat behavior among students (Center
for Disease Control, 2014).

Interventions

Bullied youth were most likely to report that actions that accessed
support from others made a positive difference. (Davis and Nixon,
2010)

Actions aimed at changing the behavior of the bullying youth (fighting,

getting back at them, telling them to stop, etc.) were rated as more
likely to make things worse. (Davis and Nixon, 2010)

Students reported that the most helpful things teachers can do are:
listen to the student, check in with them afterwards to see if the
bullying stopped, and give the student advice. (Davis and Nixon,
2010)

Students reported that the most harmful things teachers can do are:
tell the student to solve the problem themselves, tell the student that
the bullying wouldnt happen if they acted differently, ignored what
was going on, or tell the student to stop tattling. (Davis and Nixon,
2010)

As reported by students who have been bullied, the self-actions that

had some of the most negative impacts (telling the person to stop/how
I feel, walking away, pretending it doesnt bother me) are often used
by youth and often recommended to youth. (Davis and Nixon, 2010)

Bystanders

Bystanders beliefs in their social self-efficacy were positively

associated with defending behavior and negatively associated with
passive behavior from bystanders i.e. if students believe they can
make a difference, theyre more likely to act. (Thornberg et al,
2012)

Students who experience bullying report that allying and supportive

actions from their peers (such as spending time with the student,
talking to him/her, helping him/her get away, or giving advice) were
the most helpful actions from bystanders. (Davis and Nixon, 2010)

Students who experience bullying are more likely to find peer actions
helpful than educator or self-actions. (Davis and Nixon, 2010)

Adult Bullying

One would think that as people mature and progress through life, that they would stop
behaviors of their youth. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Sadly, adults can be
bullies, just as children and teenagers can be bullies. While adults are more likely to
use verbal bullying as opposed to physical bullying, the fact of the matter is that adult

bullying exists. The goal of an adult bully is to gain power over another person, and make
himself or herself the dominant adult. They try to humiliate victims, and show them who is
boss.
There are several different types of adult bullies, and it helps to know how they operate:
1.

Narcissistic Adult Bully: This type of adult bully is self-centered and does
not share empathy with others. Additionally, there is little anxiety about
consequences. He or she seems to feel good about him or herself, but in
reality has a brittle narcissism that requires putting others down.

2.

Impulsive Adult Bully: Adult bullies in this category are more spontaneous
and plan their bullying out less. Even if consequences are likely, this adult
bully has a hard time restraining his or her behavior. In some cases, this type
of bullying may be unintentional, resulting in periods of stress, or when the
bully is actually upset or concerned about something unconnected with the
victim.

3.

Physical Bully: While adult bullying rarely turns to physical confrontation,

there are, nonetheless, bullies that use physicality. In some cases, the adult
bully may not actually physically harm the victim, but may use the threat of
harm, or physical domination through looming. Additionally, a physical bully
may damage or steal a victims property, rather than physically confronting
the victim.

4.

Verbal Adult Bully: Words can be quite damaging. Adult bullies who use
this type of tactic may start rumors about the victim, or use sarcastic or
demeaning language to dominate or humiliate another person. This subtle
type of bullying also has the advantage to the bully of being difficult to
document. However, the emotional and psychological impacts of verbal
bullying can be felt quite keenly and can result in reduced job performance
and even depression.

5.

Secondary Adult Bully: This is someone who does not initiate the bullying,
but joins in so that he or she does not actually become a victim down the
road. Secondary bullies may feel bad about what they are doing, but are more
concerned about protecting themselves.

Workplace bullying can make life quite miserable and difficult. Supervisors should be
made aware of adult bullies, since they can disrupt productivity, create a hostile work
environment (opening the company to the risk of a law suit) and reduce morale.

It is important to note, though, that there is little you can do about an adult bully, other than
ignore and try to avoid, after reporting the abuse to a supervisor. This is because adult
bullies are often in a set pattern. They are not interested in working things out and they are
not interested in compromise. Rather, adult bullies are more interested in power and
domination. They want to feel as though they are important and preferred, and they
accomplish this by bringing others down. There is very little you can do to change an adult
bully, beyond working within the confines of laws and company regulations that are set up.
The good news is that, if you can document the bullying, there are legal and civil remedies
for harassment, abuse and other forms of bullying. But you have to be able to document the
case.
Adult bullies were often either bullies as children, or bullied as children. Understanding this
about them may be able to help you cope with the behavior. But there is little you can do
about it beyond doing your best to ignore the bully, report his or her behavior to the proper
authorities, and document the instances of bullying so that you can take legal action down
the road if necessary.

Senior bullying
The word bullying usually conjures images of mean-spirited adolescents cornering another child in the
school corridor, but bullying is not limited to children. It can be a concern for seniors as well, especially
those living in senior communities.
According to a researcher who studies issues related to aging, senior-to-senior bullying tends to take
place in senior centers, nursing homes or assisted living facilities. These are places where seniors spend
a lot of time together and need to share resources, whether its chairs, tables, TV stations or the staffs
attention.
It is estimated that 10-20% of seniors have experienced some type of senior-to-senior aggression in an
institutional setting, much of it verbal abuse. Men and women are equally likely to be the victim and the
aggressor. Women tend towards passive-aggressive behavior like gossiping and whispering about people
when they enter a room, while men are more direct and in your face.
Bullying behavior can range from verbal intimidation all the way to physical violence. Features to be alert
to include the following:
-Repetitive, negative behavior towards another person which violates standards of appropriate conduct
-Negative behavior occurring over a period of time, typically becoming more extreme
-Behavior which may be consciously or unconsciously committed by the bully
-Behavior which is unsolicited by the victim
-The effects on the victim are lasting and harmful
The causes of bullying vary. Dementia can sometimes be the cause of violence since someone with
dementia may wrongly perceive things as threatening so they resort to a more primitive response.
Alternatively, a person with dementia can be the victim who is picked on. Bullying can also be a result of
the human phenomenon of the strong picking on the weak, and not a function of aging at all. Alternatively,

some people dont adjust well to aging and can become disruptive and abusive, pushing others away
from group activities, social gatherings or meal time.
Bullying impacts both the victim and the bystanders. The impact for the victim can be cognitive, physical,
psychological and physical. Take the case of Mary, who had never experienced bullying until she moved
in to a building for seniors. Since moving in, a number of residents who make up a controlling group
have conspired to isolate her. Theyve spread false rumors, including one that shed been evicted from
her previous home. As a result, she curtails her activity in the building, avoids the laundry room if others
are present and stays out of the recreation room. Shes been having a hard time sleeping and is often
fatigued. She says, Its hard because Ive never had to deal with it before. It would be easier to take if
there was any truth to it. For bystanders, bullying creates a toxic environment of fear and mistrust.
Intervention is the key to halting bullying. Third party bystanders should report any abuse, says Jean
Tucker, MA, LPC, LBSW, a Medical Social Worker with THE MEDICAL TEAM. She suggests that seniors
and family members who are concerned about potential bullying should report their concerns to the
management or the social workers at their center who are trained to address it. Those in the process of
selecting a senior community should ask if the community has a policy in place to handle bullying.
Bullying behavior should not be ignored as the behavior can often escalate.
- See more at: http://www.retirement-living.com/senior-bullying/#sthash.WKdd14xe.dpuf

Statistics show that the bulk of bullying against the older population is coming from
other senior citizens. In senior care facilities 10 to 20 percent of the residents are bullied
by their peers. They are being snubbed, isolated, shut out of activities, called names,
intimidated, the subject of gossip and rumors, insulted, as well as enduring physical and
mental abuse. Men as well as women bully. With women it is reported to be more verbal
by way of gossiping with men it is more confrontational, aggressive and physical. One
case of bullying by a male senior resident in a Pennsylvania care center resulted in the
death of a fellow male resident after a vicious attack. In another case a male senior
resident picked up a female senior resident and slammed her into a wall resulting in her
death.
Seniors often just endure the intimidating, abusive behavior. They are hesitant to speak
up or out for themselves for fear of losing their living situation, afraid of making the
problem worse or they lack adequate communication skills. They may even fear
becoming the next victim of the bully. Those seniors who are victims or witness bullying
often suffer from physical and mental difficulties such as strokes, hypertension, migraine
headaches, insomnia, nightmares, heart attacks and other infirmities.
Seniors must speak up for themselves and for each other. They must report the abuse
and ask for help. Like the young students who are victims of bullying seniors have to
keep telling people until someone listens and helps. Caretakers and senior home
workers must take responsibility and not tolerate bullying from residents or workers.
Just like with students we are all responsible to get involved and help stop the bullying!

Tip #1: Understand the truth about bullying

1.

Walk away from the bully. Bullies want to know they have control over your
emotions so don't react with anger or retaliate with physical force. ...
2.
Protect yourself. ...
3.
Report the bullying to a trusted adult. ...
4.
Repeat as necessary.