Bullying is a significant public health issue, affecting 10% to 30% of children worldwide.
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Substantial media attention has been drawn to bullying in recent years, primarily because of suicides associated with bullying. This has resulted in concerns about an epidemic of bullying in the United States. In reality, rates of bullying have decreased steadily since the 1990s,2
but they have plateaued in the past few years. There has been no significant change from 2013 to 2015 in self-reported victimization from traditional and electronic bullying among US high school students.3
Decreases in rates of bullying might be attributable to a greater recognition of the negative short- and long-term consequences of victimization from and perpetration of bullying, and implementation of programs and policies to combat bullying. All US states now have laws addressing bullying, and many school districts have antibullying policies.
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Although there are no federal antibullying laws, when bullying is on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, or religion, it overlaps with federal discriminatory harassment laws. The US Department of Health and Human Services has partnered with several other governmental agencies to develop and maintain stopbullying.gov, which is a valuable resource for information regarding bullying for parents, teens, children, educators, and community-based organizations (www.stopbullying.gov).Stopbullying.gov. Policies & laws. Available at: https://www.stopbullying.gov/laws/index.html. Accessed August 18, 2017.
Bullying has also become a significant concern for parents, and there has been increased awareness of bullying and its consequences among those who care for children. Parents identify bullying as one of their top 10 health concerns for children,
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with parents of elementary and early middle school children most likely to be concerned about bullying. It is not surprising, therefore, that health care professionals also have increased their focus on bullying prevention. The American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement on youth violence prevention recommends that pediatricians address bullying through clinical practice, advocacy, education, and research.6
The American Academy of Pediatrics Bright Futures guidelines and the Connected Kids program provide resources for pediatricians to inquire about and provide counseling for bullying. October has been designated as National Bullying Prevention Awareness month and is the focus for many antibullying efforts by advocacy organizations.Although rates of bullying do not appear to be increasing, there are still a substantial number of children victimized by bullying annually, with 1 in 5 high school students bullied at school and 1 in 6 students cyberbullied.
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Approximately 15% to 20% of US elementary students report victimization from bullying.7
Victimization from bullying leads to mental health problems, school absenteeism, and low self-esteem.The high rates of bullying and its negative consequences warrant a need for continued research on bullying. Studies on bullying provide essential information to guide future prevention and intervention strategies. Most bullying still consists of traditional forms of bullying, such as physical, verbal, and relational bullying, rather than cyberbullying. Most bullying research focuses on school-based bullying, and victimization from bullying has been shown to be associated with decreased school engagement and academic performance. A longitudinal study in the United States showed that victimization from bullying is associated with lower math grades across 3 years of middle school.
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It is in this context that Mundy et al
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examined the associations between peer physical and verbal victimization and national achievement test scores among a school-based sample of children in third grade in Melbourne. Self-reported physical and verbal victimization in the past month and children's scores on the National Assessment Programme-Literacy and Numeracy were examined. Results were stratified according to gender. One in 3 boys and 1 in 4 girls in the study reported frequent bullying victimization. Consistent with US studies, more boys reported physical victimization than girls. Physical victimization among boys was associated with lower numeracy scores, and combined physical–verbal victimization was associated with lower reading scores. Among girls, victimization was associated with lower scores in all categories. The authors conclude that bullying interventions should include interventions in primary school years, should consider verbal as well as relational types of bullying, and its differential effect according to gender. This study highlights the negative academic consequences of bullying in childhood, emphasizing the need for school-based intervention programs, and suggesting that intervention in early childhood is necessary.Most current bullying interventions are school-based programs.
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These include whole-school programs that focus on changing school culture, such as the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, and socioemotional learning programs, which focus on learning social skills and emotional regulation. These programs have been used in elementary and high school ages, and focus on skills that prevent multiple types of bullying, including physical and verbal. They have been shown to reduce bullying and improve academic test scores in international studies, and show promising results in the United States. The results of the study by Mundy et al9
suggest that effective bullying prevention programs might also result in improved academic performance, providing added incentive to schools for supporting these types of programs. They might serve the dual function of keeping students safe and helping them achieve better academic outcomes.There is still much for us to learn about bullying. Cyberbullying, or bullying using electronic media such as cell phones, instant messaging, and Web sites, is an emerging threat, and might be associated with many of the same negative consequences as traditional bullying. Because of the high rates of electronic media use by youth in the United States, cyberbullying is an important topic for further study. Another need is in identifying effective, evidence-based bullying prevention interventions with proven success in the United States. Finally, we need to continue to support and advocate for current programs that work, so that bullying does not truly become an epidemic.
References
- Predictors of bullying and victimization in childhood and adolescence: a meta-analytic investigation.School Psychol Q. 2010; 25: 65-83
- Cross-national time trends in bullying behaviour 1994–2006: findings from Europe and North America.Int J Public Health. 2009; 54: S225-S234
- Youth risk behavior surveillance – United States, 2015.MMWR Surveill Summ. 2016; 65: 1-174
Stopbullying.gov. Policies & laws. Available at: https://www.stopbullying.gov/laws/index.html. Accessed August 18, 2017.
- What are parents worried about? Health problems and health concerns for children.Clin Pediatr. 2012; 51: 840-847
- Policy statement–role of the pediatrician in youth violence prevention.Pediatrics. 2009; 124: 393-402
- Specifying type and location of peer victimization in a national sample of children and youth.J Youth Adolesc. 2011; 40: 1052-1067
- Bullying experiences and compromised academic performance across middle school grades.J Early Adolesc. 2011; 31: 152-173
- Peer victimization and academic performance in primary school children.Acad Pediatr. 2017; 17: 830-836
- School-based programs to reduce bullying and victimization.Campbell Systematic Reviews. 2009; 6: 1-148
Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 01, 2017
Footnotes
The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.
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© 2017 by Academic Pediatric Association
