Title: Bullying in Schools | ASU Center for Problem-Oriented Policing
Headings: Bullying in Schools
Bullying in Schools
Guide No.12 (2002)
The Problem of Bullying in Schools
Definition of Bullying
Related Problems
Extent of the Bullying Problem
A Threshold Problem: The Reluctance to Report
Bullying Behavior
Bullies
Incidents of Bullying
Victims of Bullying
Consequences of Bullying
Chronic Victims of Bullying

Content: Extent of the Bullying Problem
Extensive studies in other countries during the 1980s and 1990s generally found that between 8 and 38 percent of students are bullied with some regularity,† and that between five and nine percent of students bully others with some regularity. Chronic victims of bullying, bullied once a week or more, generally constitute between 8 and 20 percent of the student population. 7
† A South Carolina study found that 20 percent of students bully others with some regularity (Limber et al. 1998). In an English study involving 25 schools and nearly 3,500 students, 9 percent of the students admitted to having bullied others by sexual touching [Glover and Cartwright, with Gleeson (1998)]. In the United States, fewer studies have been done. A recent study of a nationally representative sample of students found higher levels of bullying in America than in some other countries. Thirteen percent of sixth- through tenth-grade students bully, 10 percent reported being victims, and an additional six percent are victim-bullies. 8 This study excluded elementary-age students (who often experience high levels of bullying) and did not limit bullying to school grounds. Several smaller studies from different parts of the country confirm high levels of bullying behaviors, with 10 to 29 percent of students reported to be either bullies or victims.