School Performance - Will Children Ever Be Safe From Bullies?

The school crime rate seems to be down, believe it or not. But what about bullying? It has always been with us. Until the 1990s, little attention was paid to bullying; it was considered an inevitable part of childhood. The school shootings focused attention on bullying. According to the U.S. Secret Service, in more than two-thirds of the shooting incidents they studied, the attackers felt persecuted or bullied prior to the attack, suggesting a link between bullying and violence.

The chart shows responses to an online poll. Time for Kids asked kids whether a bully had ever picked on them in school (4,109 respondents). 41% said yes, they had been bullied, and more than a quarter responded frankly that they usually did the bullying.

The Nickelodeon/Talking with Kids National Survey of Parents and Kids⁴ found that 55% of 8-11-year-olds said that teasing and bullying is a "big problem" for people their age; 68% of 12-15-year-olds said the same thing.

The results of the first nationally representative survey on the frequency of bullying in America were reported in JAMA in 2001. Of 15,686 children in grades 6 through 10, 30% reported they were involved in bullying, either as perpetrator or victim. Boys were more likely to be involved than girls, and bullying was more common in grades 6-8 than in grades 9-10.

ERIC Digest reported on a study of younger children (fourth-through eighth-graders). "About 15 percent reported being severely distressed by bullying and 22% reported academic difficulties stemming from mistreatment by peers." Students who are bullied may become homicidal or suicidal. Bullies are liable to turn into troubled or criminal adults.

The American Medical Association (AMA) recently recognized bullying as a public health problem. Researchers estimate that 7% of eighth graders and a total of 160,000 children stay home from school each day because they fear being bullied.

Bullies are not loners. A 1999 study by Dorothy Espelage at the University of Illinois found that four out of five students at a Midwestern middle school said, "they act like bullies at least once a month." Why? Because, said one, "it's fun. These kids, they're like helpless — I mean they've got the big glasses and fat stomachs."

UNESCO says that bullying is a worldwide problem and exists in countries both rich and poor. "It's chiefly a male phenomenon, hitting a peak when boys turn 16 years old in some countries and 13 in others." CNN.com reports on an emerging trend in London. Called high-tech bullying, it involves tormenting by Internet text messages, e-mail, and chat rooms. Some vulnerable children have been driven to suicide by these online attacks. Can we look forward to this type of activity making its way to America?

How can bullying be stopped? Studies suggest that incidents can be cut in half through school awareness programs, increased supervision, rules, and support for victims and perpetrators. Teachers must intervene: to ignore is to condone. When teachers intervene, they foster trust (more than one planned act of violence has been stopped because a student reported it to a teacher). Research shows that where bullying is considered "cool," it is hard to stop it. Somehow, a way must be found to make it not "cool."

More and more schools are adopting antibullying policies. In a suggestion apparently aimed at the Boy Scouts of America, the AMA suggests that it would be helpful if youth organizations adopted nondiscrimination policies that include sexual orientation. The AMA recognizes that gay and lesbian young people are frequent targets for bullying.

Sources: Chart: "Let Bullies Beware: Politicians are going after them. But what works best? Banishing them — or changing the culture?" Time, 2 April 2001, p. 46. "Study: Bullying rampant in U.S. middle schools." 20 August 1999 and "High-tech school bullies work round the clock." 16 April 2002. Online. Available: CNN.com. April 19, 2002. Stagg Elliott, Victoria. "AMA recognizes bullying as a public health problem." American Medical News 9 July 2001, p. 32. Debarbieux, Eric. "Violence in schools a world wide affair." UNESCO Courier (April 2001) p 10. Nansel, Tonja R., Mary Overpeck, et al. "Bullying Behaviors Among US Youth: Prevalence and Association With Psychosocial Adjustment." JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. 25 April 2001, p2094. Linda Lumsden. "Preventing Bullying." ERIC Digest 155 (March 2002) Online. Available: http://ericcass.uncg.edu. April 26, 2002. "Talking with kids about tough issues: A National Survey of Parents and Kids." Online. Available: http://www.nick.com/. April 26, 2002.