How common is bullying?

Key statement

Studies in many different countries over the last twenty years have shown that bullying in schools is common. It is not unusual to find that between a third to a half of the pupils were involved in bullying, either as victims or bullies.
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Comment

It is very difficult to measure bullying accurately. Observation only tells part of the story. Much bullying happens in places it is impossible to observe, and much involves behaviour which may be indistinguishable from normal play or conversation - to an outside observer anyway. Interviewing adults and children can produce conflicting and confusing reports of the level of bullying. Most researchers therefore use questionnaires, which allow a large number of people to be surveyed. It should be remembered however that, although such surveys have allowed us to understand much more about this difficult problem, they can only measure people's perception of the level of bullying, rather than the actual level. Most people who take part in such surveys try to answer the questions as honestly as they can. But it can be difficult for young people involved in bullying to admit to themselves the truth of what is happening, let alone to admit this to others.
(Andrew Mellor)
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Do you want to find out more?

More 1 - Scandinavian research
More 2 - Scottish study
More 3 - Australian survey
More 4 - 1997 English survey
More 5 - 1990 Sheffield study
More 6 - Secondary schools in England
More 7 - 1990s New Zealand study
More 8 - Northern Ireland survey
More 1 - 8 on one page!
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