Within U.S schools, one out of every four students report being bullied during the school year. (1) Bullying has long been a major problem that affects people from all ages, but is most prevalent among school children. Almost 3.2 million students are bullied every school year and introducing a comprehensive research based anti-bullying program in the schools in USA can significantly reduce bullying. (2)
Although bullying has been decreasing every year, approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying which shows that it still remains a huge issue. (3) Bullying adversely affects the school environment as many kids feel increasingly marginalized. This results in gradual decline in academic performance of students. Researchers from UCLA conducted a study with 2,300 students from 11 Los Angeles-area public middle schools, where they asked students to rate whether or not they get bullied on a four-point scale. (4) …show more content…
(5) Appallingly, 1 in 4 teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and intervene only 4% of the time. (2) More so, 60% of middle school students say that they have been bullied, while only 16% of the school staff believes them. (6) Schools thus often fail to act on time and provide a safe learning environment for students.
Although most forms of bullying are often short-lived, the effects of bullying often continue many years into adulthood. In the most extreme cases, targets have taken out their anger and despair through violence as seen by the numerous school shootings, 2/3rd of which have been due to bullying incidents. (7) Around 30% of the students even bring weapons to school. (6) On the other side of the problem, many targets are left in low self-esteem and anxiety as exemplified by the 20% of high school students who seriously considered suicide in the last year.
Although bullying has been decreasing every year, approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying which shows that it still remains a huge issue. (3) Bullying adversely affects the school environment as many kids feel increasingly marginalized. This results in gradual decline in academic performance of students. Researchers from UCLA conducted a study with 2,300 students from 11 Los Angeles-area public middle schools, where they asked students to rate whether or not they get bullied on a four-point scale. (4) …show more content…
(5) Appallingly, 1 in 4 teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and intervene only 4% of the time. (2) More so, 60% of middle school students say that they have been bullied, while only 16% of the school staff believes them. (6) Schools thus often fail to act on time and provide a safe learning environment for students.
Although most forms of bullying are often short-lived, the effects of bullying often continue many years into adulthood. In the most extreme cases, targets have taken out their anger and despair through violence as seen by the numerous school shootings, 2/3rd of which have been due to bullying incidents. (7) Around 30% of the students even bring weapons to school. (6) On the other side of the problem, many targets are left in low self-esteem and anxiety as exemplified by the 20% of high school students who seriously considered suicide in the last year.