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Study: Half of Teens Admit Bullying in Last Year
Filed under: In The News, Bullying, Behavior: Tweens, Behavior: Teens
Half of teens admit bullying in past year. Credit: AP
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Half of high school students say they've bullied someone in the past year, and nearly half say they've been the victim of bullying, according to a national study released Tuesday.
The survey by the Los Angeles-based Josephson Institute of Ethics asked more than 43,000 high school students whether they'd been physically abused, teased or taunted in a way that seriously upset them. Forty-three percent said yes, and 50 percent admitted to being the bully.
The institute's president, Michael Josephson, said the study shows more bullying goes on at later ages than previously thought, and remains extremely prevalent through high school.
"Previous to this, the evidence was bullying really peaks in middle school," Josephson told The Associated Press.
He said the Internet has intensified the effect of taunting and intimidation because of its reach and its permanence.
"It's the difference between punching someone and stabbing him. The wounds are so much deeper," Josephson said.
Josephson added the survey's results don't surprise him because his group has conducted similar studies without publishing the results. But he said he still finds the numbers "alarming."
In the survey, 10 percent of teens admitted bringing a weapon to school at least once, and 16 percent admitted being drunk at school.
Josephson said that means victims of bullying are in danger of striking back violently.
"You have a combination that is a toxic cocktail," Josephson said.
The study reported responses from 43,321 high school students from around the country, and the margin of error was less than 1 percent.
Rick Hesse, a professor of decision sciences at Pepperdine University, said the survey involved voluntary self-reporting and was therefore not a random, stratified sample of the U.S. population. But he said the large number of people surveyed and the lack of corrupting factors mean certain valid conclusions can be drawn from the results.
The study's release comes in a year of several high-profile suicides related to bullying, including that of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince of Massachusetts, who prosecutors say was relentlessly bullied by the six girls charged in her death.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education sent letters to schools, colleges and universities around the country warning them that failing to adequately address ethnic, sexual or gender-based harassment could put them in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. This article was written by ANDREW DALTON, Associated Press Writer.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
10-27-2010 @ 11:29AM
giselle said...i was bullied in school and i retaliated violently,,she neva bothered me again we became very good friends after that..
Reply
11-09-2010 @ 4:37PM
George said...I was bullied to a point...then retaliated as the one before me mentioned. Short term fix to a long term problem. Then, because the wrong crowd witnessed one such incident, I was in with the wrong crowd. They went from "get him red" to "ho ho ho.." and pulling me off him because I was wearing him out in like 2.2 seconds.
This guy in mention was almost 2' taller than me...so that carried weight with the "rough necks" and thus....in with the wrong crowd.
20 years of drugs followed...bottom of the barrel scum...
Never once even with this wild bunch...."blast some meth & drive a front end loader through a new house" was cool...*Not bragging...just an example how rough they were....
Neer once fighting did anybody EVER consider getting a gun and my father had an entire dresser full of pistols, HK 223, shotguns etc....BUT THIS IS OLD SCHOOL GAME WITH NEW SCHOOL RULES.....These kids today as young as they come, think peddlin' dope and guns are the way to go....LOOKOUT...DANGER ZONE. *WINK
My point.....WE NEED NEW SCHOOL RULES ALL YOU/US OLD SCHOOL PARENTS!! *wink MUCH LOVE!!
10-29-2010 @ 4:30PM
Peggy Angeline said...In middle school my grandson was extremely bullied by a boy and everyone was somewhat threatened by the boy so they all went along with him. My grandson was getting F's on report cards. He was constantly saying "everyone hates me". The Teacher contacted his parents to tell them He was not turning in his homework. They constantly got on him about it. He told them that this boy kept taking it away and tearing it up. They of course believed this was just an excuse.
The school called my son (his father) at work and said he needed to come by the school on his way home from work. He did. They told him that my grandson hand threatened to shoot this bully. What he actually said was "if I had a gun I'd shoot you". They brought my grandson into the office and he told them about the bullying. They asked who the bully was. They called the bully in the office and talked seriously with him about the dangers of bullying and what some of the consequences could be. Both boys were expelled for several days. When they went back to school the bullying stopped and low and behold my grandson made the honer roll at the end of the year and has been keeping his grades up to this day. He is a Sophmore this year and is on the varsity baseball team two years in a row. Such an unbelievable change.
Morale to this story. Listen to what your children are telling you and believe them until you check it out.
DO CHECK IT OUT AND ACT ON IT ASP.
Reply
10-29-2010 @ 6:51PM
Pete said...Bully's simply need to have the tables turned on them, forcefully, one time and most will never bully again. Sometimes a large dose of your own medication is the best cure.
Reply
10-29-2010 @ 6:52PM
Pete said...whoops, didn't mean "bully's", but bullies.
Reply
10-29-2010 @ 7:03PM
JimmyfromLA said...Each of our kids had to learn to stand up to HS bullies, in some way, shape or form. My 2 sons were wrestlers and found that headlocks and takedowns worked well. With 2 of my daughters simply standing up to the bully in front of everyone worked well. Last year, our youngest (and smallest) whined about a bully in 2 or 3 of her classes. I asked if she'd confronted him yet. The answer was "No he's not picking on me." I told her if she wasn't part of the solution than she was part of the problem and she should shut up. 2 weeks later he tried bullying her outside of class and she tossed a full cup of hot chocolate at the kid. His shirt and pants were soaked. The teacher wrote up both of them and the other kid had to wear gym shorts and a gym t-shirt around school for the rest of the day and explain to everyone who asked "what happened?" My daughter hasn't had a problem with this idiot since and I could care less about 1 write-up in 3 year HS career. Teach them to stand up parents! That's your job!
Reply