DATA

POINT

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

NCES 2018-095 MARCH 2018

Changes in 

Bullying Victimization and 

Hate-Related Words 

at School Since 2007

Data from the School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey, a nationally representative sample 

survey of students ages 12 through 18, were used to examine changes in reports of bullying and being called hate-related 

words at school. The SCS study is completed every other year. Data from five consecutive surveys are included in this report:

school years 2006–2007, 2008–2009, 2010–2011, 2012–2013, and 2014–2015.1 The SCS asks students whether they were 

bullied or called hate-related words in the school building, on school property, on the school bus, or going to or from school. 

Specifically, students were asked to report if they were made fun of, called names, or insulted; were the subject of rumors; 

were threatened with harm; were pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on; were pressured into doing things they did not want to do; 

were excluded from activities on purpose; or had property destroyed on purpose. Students are separately asked whether 

anyone called them an insulting or bad name at school having to do with their race, religion, ethnic background or national 

origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation (hate-related words).

Analysis is restricted to the SCS respondents in each 

year who were enrolled in grades 6 through 12, and did 

not receive any part of their education through 

homeschooling during the school year. 

The percentage of students ages 12 through 18 

who reported being bullied and/or called a haterelated word at school was significantly lower in 

2015 than in 2007, 2009, and 2011 (figure 1).

• In 2007, some 31.7 percent of students ages 12 

through 18 reported being bullied at school. In 2015, 

the percentage was 20.8 percent.

• Significant decreases in the proportion of students 

ages 12 through 18 who reported that they had been 

bullied at school occurred between 2007 and 2009, 

and again between 2011 and 2013.

• In 2007, some 9.7 percent of students ages 12 

through 18 reported being called a hate-related word 

at school. In 2015, the percentage was 7.2 percent.

• A significant decrease in the proportion of students 

ages 12 through 18 who reported that they had been 

called a hate-related word at school occurred 

between 2011 and 2013, as well as between 2011 

and 2015.

FIGURE 1. Percentage of students ages 12 through 18 who 

reported being bullied or called a hate-related word at school, 

by year: School years 2006–07 through 2014–15

NOTE: “Bullied” includes students being made fun of, called names, or insulted; being the 

subject of rumors; being threatened with harm; being pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on; 

being pressured into doing things they did not want to do; being excluded from activities on 

purpose; and having property destroyed on purpose. “At school” includes the school building, 

school property, school bus, or going to and from school. Tabular data for percentages are 

available in table 11.5 at https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2017/2017064.pdf. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School 

Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) 2007, 2009, 

2011, 2013, and 2015. 

Data in this report are from version 1 of the 2015 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime 

Victimization Survey, a nationally representative sample survey of students ages 12 through 18. To 

learn more about the survey, visit: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/crime. For questions about content or 

to download additional copies, go to: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
Changes in Bullying Victimization and Hate-Related Words at School Since 2007

In addition to the decrease in the overall 

percentage of students reporting they had been 

bullied, between 2007 and 2015, the percentage 

of bullied students who reported that they had 

been bullied most frequently (almost every day) 

also decreased, while the percentage reporting 

that they had told a teacher or other adult 

about being bullied increased (figure 2). 

• Among students who reported they were bullied, 

the percentage who said the frequency of 

bullying was “almost every day” decreased from 

6.6 percent in 2007 to 4.2 percent in 2015.

• The percentage of bullied students who indicated 

that they reported to a teacher or another adult at 

school about being bullied increased from 36.1 

percent in 2007 to 43.1 percent in 2015.

FIGURE 2. Among students ages 12 through 18 who reported 

being bullied at school, percentage reporting being bullied 

almost every day and percentage telling an adult about being 

bullied: School years 2006–07 through 2014–15

NOTE: “Bullied” includes students being made fun of, called names, or insulted; being the 

subject of rumors; being threatened with harm; being pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on; 

being pressured into doing things they did not want to do; being excluded from activities on 

purpose; and having property destroyed on purpose. “At school” includes the school building, 

school property, school bus, or going to and from school. Tabular data for percentages and 

their standard errors are available at http://nces.ed.gov/programs/crime/crime_tables.asp. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School 

Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) 2007, 2009, 

2011, 2013, and 2015.

Endnotes

1Data from the 2015 SCS is restricted to version 1 of the survey. For more information on the version development and administration 

of the 2015 SCS survey, see Lessne, D., and Cidade, M. (2017). Methodology Report: Split-Half Administration of the 2015 School 

Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCES 2017-004). U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: 

National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved April 13, 2017, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.

This NCES Data Point presents information on education topics of current interest. 

It was authored by Deborah Lessne and Christine Yanez of Synergy Enterprises, 

Inc. All estimates shown are based on samples and are subject to sampling 

variability. All differences discussed in this report are statistically significant at 

the .05 level. In the design, conduct, and data processing of National Center for 

Education Statistics (NCES) surveys, efforts are made to minimize the effects of 

nonsampling errors, such as item nonresponse, measurement error, data processing 

error, or other systematic error.