A new survey shows bullying is on the rise across the country.
This survey, called Youth Right Now, is done every year by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
It features findings from more than 130,000 kids and teens ages 9-18 in 2023 on how they are feeling about their academics, emotional well-being, relationships, readiness for life after high school, and the social issues impacting their generation.
The key takeaways on bullying: 40% of youth say they were bullied on school property in the past year, 14% higher than in 2019. Around 18% of youth have experienced cyberbullying -- of those, 55% didn’t tell an adult.
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Click here to view the survey results.
Experts blame the rise on the pandemic – years of disruption have caused students to struggle with managing stress, solving problems, and relationships with their peers.
"What we often tell kids, is that bullies are typically people who are going through their life stressors and maybe they have their insecurities. And we're seeing that projected onto another kid,” Dr. Jasmine Ghannadpour, clinical child psychologist for children’s health and assistant professor at UT Southwestern. "We had that stressful time. It's not like that stress just disappears. It still lives somewhere in our body. I think the pandemic was a stressful time for everyone for lots of different reasons, but in particular with kids, they didn't have access to a lot of the coping skills they typically would have access to in terms of being able to go to school."
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She said it's really important for teachers and families to check in with students.
"We really want to engage them and ask questions about, you know, what, what went well in school today? What was challenging, what are some ways that can help you and support you? What was something interesting you learned? So maybe a little more specific than the general? Just how was school today?" said Dr. Ghannadpour.
It's also important for adults to respond quickly and consistently to any type of bullying behavior. Click here for more details on the signs of bullying.
She added that bullying can start younger than parents might expect.
"That's concerning because the younger a kid is the fewer experiences they have overall to sort of compare or to build resilience. They have less self-identity,” Dr. Ghannadpour said.
What adults say around children, at any age, is also important in setting a good example.
"I think it's important for us as adults to also think about how we talk about other people – I think that kids pick up on our language and our conversations. And so if they're hearing us say negative things about other people, that that's impacting their perceptions as well,” said Dr. Ghannadpour.
