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Student Reports of Bullying and Cyber-Bullying: Results From the 2009 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey

NCJ Number
238355
Author(s)
Jill DeVoe; Christina Murphy
Date Published
August 2011
Length
52 pages
Annotation
This document presents statistics on bullying and cyber-bullying that were obtained from the 2009 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey.
Abstract
This report was prepared for the National Center for Education Statistics and presents statistics on the rates of bullying and cyber-bullying among students ages 12 through 18. Highlights from the statistics show that in school year 2008-2009, almost 28 percent of all students ages 12 to 18 reported that they were bullied at school while 6 percent reported that they were victims of cyber-bullying. Almost 30 percent of female students and almost 27 percent of male students ages 12 to 18 were reported being victims of bullying. The most common locations for bullying for both genders were in in a hallway or stairwell or in a classroom. Bullying was more prevalent in the Midwest (31.9 percent) and the South (28.7 percent); in public schools (29.4 percent) than in private schools (18.3 percent); and in middle and primary school, 35.8 percent and 31.2 percent, respectively. Among students who were bullied, just over 67 percent reported being bullied at least once or twice during the school year, with 6.3 percent being bullied almost every day. The main type of bullying reported by students was being made fun of, insulted, or called names (18.8 percent), followed by having rumors spread about them (16.5 percent). Of the students who reported being victims of cyber-bullying, almost 68 percent reported being cyber-bullied at least once or twice a year, with almost 6 percent being victims of cyber-bullying on a daily basis. The most common form of cyber-bullying was unwanted contact via text messaging followed by hurtful information on the Internet. Tables and glossary