Bullying is Widespread

An important issue that affects learning

According to experts, bullying is one of the most important issues facing schools today:

• Every day, 160,000 children miss school because of a fear of being bullied. (U. S. Department of Justice, National Association of School Psychologists)
• When there is a school-wide commitment to end bullying, it can be reduced by up to 50 percent. (Olweus, D., Limber, S., & Mihalic, S., 1999)
• Half of all students report being bullied at some time and 15 percent of students are bullied on a daily basis. (freefrombullies.com, 2005)
• 1 in 3 teenagers are involved in bullying, either as a bully or as a victim.

U.S. Department of Justice Statistics

• Every seven minutes a schoolchild is bullied. Adults intervened in 4 percent of those situations, and peers intervened 11 percent of the time, leaving 85 percent of incidents with no intervention at all.
• 30 percent of U.S. students in grades six through 10 are involved in moderate or frequent bullying, as bullies, as victims or both.
• 77 percent of students are bullied mentally, verbally and physically.
• 8 percent of students miss one day of class per month for fear of bullies