Bullying

ISSUES

&ANSWERS

R E L 2010 – No. 0 92

At Education Development
Center, Inc.

What characteristics of bullying, bullying victims, and schools are associated with increased reporting of bullying to school officials?

ISSUES

&

ANSWERS

R E L 2 010 – N o . 0 92

At Education Development
Center, Inc.

What characteristics of bullying, bullying victims, and schools areassociated with increased reporting of bullying to school officials?
August 2010

Prepared by Anthony Petrosino
Learning Innovations at WestEd
Sarah Guckenburg
Learning Innovations at WestEd
Jill DeVoe
American Institutes of Research
Thomas Hanson
WestEd and Regional Educational Laboratory West

WA MT OR ID WY NE NV UT CA CO KS IA IL MO IN OH WV KY TN AR MS AK TX LA AL GA NC SCVA SD ND MN WI NY MI PA VT NH

ME

MA

CT RI

AZ

NM

OK

FL

VI PR

At Education Development Center, Inc.

Issues & Answers is an ongoing series of reports from short-term Fast Response Projects conducted by the regional educa­ tional laboratories on current education issues of importance at local, state, and regional levels. Fast Response Project topics change to reflect newissues, as identified through lab outreach and requests for assistance from policymakers and educa­ tors at state and local levels and from communities, businesses, parents, families, and youth. All Issues & Answers reports meet Institute of Education Sciences standards for scientifically valid research. August 2010 This report was prepared for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) underContract ED-06-CO-0025 by Regional Educa­ tional Laboratory Northeast administered by Education Development Center, Inc. The content of the publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of IES or the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, com­ mercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. This report is in the public domain. Whilepermission to reprint this publication is not necessary, it should be cited as: Petrosino, A., Guckenburg, S., DeVoe, J., and Hanson, T. (2010). What characteristics of bullying, bullying victims, and schools are associated with increased reporting of bullying to school officials? (Issues & Answers Report, REL 2010–No. 092). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of EducationSciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/ edlabs. This report is available on the regional educational laboratory web site at http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs.

Summary

REL 2010–No. 092

What characteristics of bullying, bullying victims, and schools are associated withincreased reporting of bullying to school officials?
This study tested 51 characteristics of bullying victimization, bullying victims, and bullying victims’ schools to determine which were associated with reporting to school officials. It found that 11 characteristics in two categories—bullying victimization and bullying victims— showed a statistically significant association with reporting. Thestudy also notes the high percentage (64 percent) of respondents who experienced bullying but did not report it. Bullying appears to be frequent among U.S. students and has been associated with several short- and long-term negative consequences such as depression and poor health. Research suggests that many bullying incidents are not reported to school officials, which hampers educators’ abilityto define the scope or frequency of bullying behavior in their schools or districts, the first step in addressing the problem. Further, when bullying is underreported, administrators are likely to receive an incomplete picture of bullying behaviors in their schools and of the conditions and settings in which bullying occurs. This study used nationally representative data from the 2007 National...