Bullying Statistics

Following are recent statistics.
Let’s empower each other to be part of the solution to these statistics!

 

BULLING:  About 1 in 5 high school students reported being bullied on school property. More than 1 in 6 high school students reported being bullied electronically in the last year. Some youth experience bullying more than others. Nearly 40% of high school students who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and about 33% of those who were not sure of their sexual identity experienced bullying at school or electronically in the last year, compared to 22% of heterosexual high school students. About 30% of female high school students experienced bullying at school or electronically in the last year, compared to about 19% of males. Nearly 29% of White high school students experienced bullying at school or electronically in the last year compared to about 19% of Hispanic and 18% of Black high school students. Bullying is a frequent discipline problem. Nearly 14% of public schools report that bullying is a discipline problem occurring daily or at least once a week. Reports of bullying are highest in middle schools (28%) followed by high schools (16%), combined schools (12%), and primary schools (9%). Reports of cyberbullying are highest in middle schools (33%) followed by high schools (30%), combined schools (20%), and primary schools (5%). https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/youthviolence/bullyingresearch/fastfact.html.

A National Institute of Health study revealed that 20.8% of U. S. adolescents in school reported being physically bullied at least once in the last two months, 53.6% were verbally bullied, and 51.4% felt socially bullied — that is, excluded, ostracized, or otherwise hurt. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19766941. In addition, cyber-bullying leads to even higher levels of depression than these older forms of aggression www.nih.gov/news/health/sep2010/nichd-21.htm. The bullies feel depressed, too. According to the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, bullying is associated with other problems such as substance abuse, obesity, racism, depression and suicide. Experts say the facts are troubling, because bullying too often leads to violence, loss of self-esteem, depression and even suicide. 

 

SUICIDE: According to the CDC’s 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, suicide is the second-leading cause of death among high school-aged youths 14–18. Unintentional injuries are #1. www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/su/su6901a6.htm  Deaths from youth suicide are only part of the problem. More young people survive suicide attempts than actually die. A nationwide survey of youth in grades 9-12 in public and private schools in the United States (U.S.) found that 15% of students reported seriously considering suicide, 11% reported creating a plan, and 7% reporting trying to take their own life in the 12 months preceding the survey. Each year, approximately 149,000 youth between the ages of 10 and 24 receive medical care for self-inflicted injuries at Emergency Departments across the U.S.A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics confirms what many probably suspected regarding the detrimental effects of bullying: a significantly greater likelihood of suicide attempts. Teens who were bullied were 2.5 times as likely to attempt suicide. That likelihood was further increased in teens who were cyberbullied. “This might be because with cyberbulling, victims may feel they’ve been denigrated in front of a wider audience,” said study leader Mitch van Geel. However, teens who were involved in either side of bullying also had an increased risk: They were 2.35 times more likely to commit suicide.

According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ study on high school suicides in 2019:

18.8%    seriously considered suicide

15.7%     made a plan

8.9%      attempted suicide

2.5%      required medical treatment

MENTAL HEALTH: Half of all chronic mental health conditions begin by age 14, half of all lifetime cases of anxiety disorders begin as early as age eight, and 22% of youth ages 13-18 experience serious mental disorders in any given year. More than 60% of young adults with a mental illness were unable to complete high school. Young people ages 16-24 with mental illness are four times less likely to be involved in gainful activities, like employment, college, or trade school. Those with a psychiatric disability are three times more likely to be involved in criminal justice activities. Each year, 157,000 children and young adults, ages 10-24, are treated at emergency departments for self-inflicted injuries. One in 12 high school students has attempted suicide. World Health Organization www. who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health
 

VIOLENCE:  According to the Secret Service and Dept. of Education, research on 37 school shootings, including Columbine, found that almost three-quarters of student shooters felt bullied, threatened, attacked, or injured by others. In fact, several shooters reported experiencing long-term and severe bullying and harassment from their peers. www.secretservice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2021-03/USSS%20Averting%20Targeted%20School%20Violence.2021.03.pdf  Page 41

 

SUBSTANCE ABUSE:   A study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America showed that 73% of teens report their primary reason for using drugs is to deal with the pressures and stress of school. https://casapalmera.com/blog/top-5-reasons-teens-use-drugs/ Peer pressure is another major influencer on youth regarding drug and alcohol use and abuse. A PATS Teens study reported 65% of teens say they use drugs to “feel cool.” Teens’ self-worth depends on the approval of others, and their desire for social acceptance can drive them to engage in destructive behaviors, even if they know those behaviors could harm them. The same study found that 65% of teens use drugs to “feel better about themselves.”
www.drugfree.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/PATS-Teens-2007-Full-Report.pdf  Page 18

CHILDHOOD EMOTIONAL NEGLECT: Many young people and adults carry the scars of adult role models who believed children were to be seen and not heard —“If you don’t stop crying, I’ll give you something to cry about,” etc. This is called Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN). According to Andrea Brandt, Ph.D. M.F.T., in an article in Psychology Today: “When parents treat children’s emotions as unimportant, not valid, excessive, or of lesser importance than other issues, they neglect the child emotionally. When your parents don’t notice, value, or respond to your emotions, or they question your emotions when you express them, they unintentionally send a message to you that your feelings don’t matter or that there’s something wrong with the way you feel. To cope, you learned to bury your feelings or to transform an ‘unacceptable’ emotion like anger into an ‘acceptable’ one like anxiety.” https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mindful-anger/202001/9-signs-childhood-emotional-neglect-and-3-ways-heal

Teens are in dire need of a safe environment to learn how to respect and value themselves as unique gifted and lovable youth.
Help Hey U.G.L.Y. in meeting that demand by donating at:  
DONATE

People call a girl fat;
no one knows she has a serious disease that causes her to be overweight.

People call an old man ugly;
no one knows he had a serious injury to his face while serving our country in Vietnam.

Re-post this if your against bullying and stereotyping!!!!

 

 

Teens are in dire need of a safe environment to learn how to respect and value themselves as unique gifted and lovable youth.
Help Hey U.G.L.Y. in meeting that demand by donating at:  
DONATE

People call a girl fat;
no one knows she has a serious disease that causes her to be overweight.

People call an old man ugly;
no one knows he had a serious injury to his face while serving our country in Vietnam.

Re-post this if your against bullying and stereotyping!!!!