SAFER SCHOOLS NEWS-VOL. 22

Researchers who have studied bullying have reached the following common conclusions:

• About 10 percent to 15 percent of children say they are regularly bullied.

• Bullying takes place most frequently in school.

• At school, bullying occurs most often where there is little or no adult supervision–on the playground, in the hallways and cafeteria, and in the classroom before lessons begin.

• Most bullying is verbal rather than physical.

• Bullying begins in elementary school, peaks in middle school, and falls off in high school. It does not, however, disappear altogether.

• Boys bully both boys and girls. Girls tend to bully girls.

• Although boys are more often the perpetrators and victims of bullying, girls tend to bully in more indirect ways, manipulating friendships, ostracizing classmates, and spreading malicious rumors.
• Both bullies and onlookers tend to blame the victims for the treatment they receive.
• Although most victims don’t look very different from their classmates, they are taunted most often because of their physical appearance.
• Boys who are chronically victimized tend to be more passive and physically weaker than their tormentors.
• In middle school, girls who mature early are commonly victims of harassment.

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