The Changing Face of Bullying: 1 in 5 students will be bullied this year

According to the latest research, the rate of bullying has dropped over the past ten years from a high of 32 percent to 21 percent in 2015. However, that still means over one in five students will be bullied this year.

Twenty-one year old Aija Mayrock is a performance artist, reciting her own rap, or slam poems. She’s already a writer, publishing a book at age 17. Hard to imagine this young woman used to be a child who was bullied.

“On Halloween of my freshman year, a girl I had never met who attended my old school dressed up as me as her costume,” Mayrock told an audience during a performance.

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Deborah Temkin, PhD, is the Program Director for Education Research at Child Trends and an expert in bullying prevention. She said new research suggests bullying can have long-term consequences. Kids bullied in childhood are more likely to be depressed or anxious as adults. They may have less earning potential. They may be more likely to be suicidal. Temkin said these days, technology plays a role early on.

Temkin told Ivanhoe, “Kids are now walking around addicted to their cell phones.”

Twelve percent of kids aged 12 to 18 report being victims of cyberbullying; twenty-one percent report being bullied in-person, but many other kids may suffer in silence. Temkin said less than half of those students report the behavior to an adult.

Temkin explained, “They worry often that parents will over react, for instance. Jump to doing something that they fear makes the bullying worse.”

Temkin said parents need to look for changes in their child. They also need to involve the school: understand the district’s bullying policy, who to report to, what the investigation procedures are, and how to appeal. Aija Mayrock said when the bullying got bad, she set goals and focused on her future.

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Mayrock told the crowd, “I need you to get up, hold your head up high, raise your hand and say I will not let another kid feel like someone else’s prey.”

A generation ago, parents would advise kids to ignore school yard bullies and the teasing and taunting would go away. These days, constant, easy access to social media means some may be taking bullying to a new level.

Contributors to this news report include: Cyndy McGrath, Supervising and Field Producer; Milvionne Chery, Assistant Producer; Roque Correa, Editor; Roque Correa and Kirk Manson, Videographers.