Digital Smarts - Report Reveals Lower Rates of Bullying and Cyberbullying

In 2013, a survey revealed that about 21.5% of students ages 12 to 18 reported being bullied and 6.9% reported being cyberbullied -- the lowest rates since the first School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey was released in 2005. The numbers of reported bullying have gone down from 27.8 percent in 2011, and 31.7 percent in 2007, and reports of being cyberbullied also fell, down from 9 percent in 2011. Despite the overall drop in bullying and cyberbullying, reporting rates remain low – just more than one-third of students who were victims of traditional bullying - and fewer than one-quarter of cyberbullying victims - reported the incident to an adult. The most common forms of cyberbullying were unwanted contact via text messaging and posting hurtful information on the internet. Without more reporting, it is hard to tell how accurate the data is and whether efforts to curb cyberbullying are having any effect on the decline.