What We Know About Bullying

What is bullying?

Bullying is aggressive behavior that is intentional

and that involves an imbalance of power or

strength. Typically, it is repeated over time. A child

who is being bullied has a hard time defending

himself or herself.

Bullying can take many forms, such as hitting or

punching (physical bullying); teasing or namecalling (verbal bullying); intimidation using

gestures or social exclusion (nonverbal bullying or

emotional bullying); and sending insulting

messages by e-mail (cyberbullying). 

Prevalence of bullying:

• Studies show that between 15–25 percent of 

U.S. students are bullied with some frequency

(“sometimes or more often”) while 15–20 percent

report that they bully others with some frequency

(Melton et al., 1998; Nansel et al., 2001).

• Recent statistics show that although school

violence has declined 4 percent during the past

several years, the incidence of behaviors such as

bullying has increased by 5 percent between

1999 and 2001 (U.S. Dept. of Ed., 2002).

• Bullying has been identified as a major concern

by schools across the U.S. (NEA3

, 2003).

• In surveys of third through eighth graders in 14

Massachusetts schools, nearly half who had been

frequently bullied reported that the bullying had

lasted six months or longer (Mullin-Rindler, 2003).

• Research indicates that children with disabilities or

special needs may be at a higher risk of being bullied

than other children (see Rigby, 2002, for review).

Bullying and gender:

• By self-report, boys are more likely than girls to

bully others (Nansel et al., 2001; Banks 1997).

• Girls frequently report being bullied by both boys

and girls, but boys report that they are most

often bullied only by other boys (Melton et al.,

1998; Olweus, 1993).

• Verbal bullying is the most frequent form of

bullying experienced by both boys and girls. Boys

are more likely to be physically bullied by their

peers (Olweus, 1993; Nansel et al., 2001); girls are

more likely to report being targets of rumorspreading and sexual comments (Nansel et al.,

2001). Girls are more more likely to bully each

other using social exclusion (Olweus, 2002).

• Use of derogatory speculation about sexual

orientation is so common that many parents do

not think of telling their children that it could be

hurtful (NEA2

, 2003).

Consequences of bullying:

• Stresses of being bullied can interfere with

student’s engagement and learning in school

(NEA Today, 1999).

• Children and youth who are bullied are more

likely than other children to be depressed, lonely,

anxious, have low self-esteem, feel unwell, and

think about suicide (Limber, 2002; Olweus, 1993).

• Students who are bullied may fear going to

school, using the bathroom, and riding on the

school bus (NEA1

, 2003).
References

Ahmad, Y. & Smith, P. K. (1994). Bullying in schools and the issue of sex differences. In Male violence, J. Archer (Ed.). NY: Rutledge.

Banks, R. (1997). Bullying in schools (ERIC Report No. EDO-PS-97-170.) University of Illinois Champaign, Ill. 

Limber, S. P. (2002). Addressing youth bullying behaviors. Proceedings from the American Medical Association Educational Forum on Adolescent Health:

Youth Bullying. Chicago, IL: American Medical Association. Retrieved August 12, 2005, from www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/39/

youthbullying.pdf.

Melton, G. B.. Limber, S. Flerx, V. Cunningham, P., Osgood, D.W., Chambers, J., Henggler, S., & Nation, M. (1998). Violence among rural youth. Final

report to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Mullin-Rindler, N. (2003). Findings from the Massachusetts Bullying Prevention Initiative. Unpublished manuscript.Nansel, T. R., Overpeck, M. D., Haynie, D. L.,

Ruan, W. J., & Scheidt, P. C. (2003). Relationships between bullying and violence among US youth. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, 157, 348-353.

Nansel, T. Overpeck, M., Pilla, R.S., Ruan, W.J., Simmons-Morton, B. Schmidt, P. (2001). Bullying behaviors among US youth. Journal of American Medical

Association, 285, 2094-2100.

National Education Association. (1995). Youth risk behavior survey data results. Retrieved August 12, 2005, from www.nea.orgs.

National Education Association1. (2003). National bullying awareness campaign. Retrieved August 12, 2005, from www.neaorg/schoolsafety/bullying.html.

National Education Association2. (2003). Parents role in bullying prevention and intervention. Retrieved August 12, 2005, from

www.nea.org/schoolsafety/bullyingparentsrole.html.

National Education Association3. (2003). School safety facts. Retrieved August 12, 2005, from www.nea.org/ schoolsafety/ssfacts.html.

National Education Association4. (2003). Youth violence intervention and prevention. Retrieved August 12, 2005, from

www.nasponline.org/advocacy/youth_violence.html.

NEA Today. (1999). Easing the strain of students’ stress. Departments: Health. September 1999. NEA Washington, DC Retrieved August 12, 2005, from

www.nea.org/neatoday/9909/health.html.

Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, Inc.

Olweus, D. (February 23, 2002). Personal communication. 

Rigby, K. (2002). New perspectives on bullying. London: Jessica Kinglsey Publications.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, The continuation of education 2002, NCES 2002-025, Washington, DC: 

U.S. Government Printing Office, 2002.

These and other materials are available online at: www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov

• In a survey of third through eighth graders in 14

Massachusetts schools, more than 14 percent

reported that they were often afraid of being

bullied (Mullin-Rindler, 2003).

• Research shows that bullying can be a sign of

other serious antisocial or violent behavior.

Children and youth who frequently bully their

peers are more likely than others to get into

frequent fights, be injured in a fight, vandalize or

steal property, drink alcohol, smoke, be truant

from school, drop out of school, and carry a

weapon (Nansel et al., 2003; Olweus, 1993).

• Bullying also has an impact on other students at

school who are bystanders to bullying (Banks,

1997). Bullying creates a climate of fear and

disrespect in schools and has a negative impact

on student learning (NEA1

, 2003).

Adult response to bullying

• Adults are often unaware of bullying problems

(Limber, 2002). In one study, 70 percent of

teachers believed that teachers intervene “almost

always” in bullying situations; only 25 percent of

students agreed with this assessment (Charach 

et al., 1995).

• 25 percent of teachers see nothing wrong with

bullying or putdowns and consequently

intervene in only 4 percent of bullying incidents

(Cohn & Canter, 2002).

• Students often feel that adult intervention is

infrequent and unhelpful and they often fear that

telling adults will only bring more harassment

from bullies (Banks, 1997).

• In a survey of students in 14 elementary and

middle schools in Massachusetts, more than 30

percent believed that adults did little or nothing

to help in bullying incidents (Mullin-Rindler, 2003).