Pathways Courses - The ABCs of Bullying

The ABCs of Bullying
Addressing, Blocking, and Curbing School Aggression

Module 1: School Bullying: What It Is and Why It Hurts - Page 8 of 12

Bullying exists within an environment of other forms of violence and aggression by and toward youth:

The U.S. child homicide rate (2.6 per 100,000 for children younger than 15 years) is five times higher than the rate of 25 other industrialized countries combined, according to the CDC.ref
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents. The rate of suicide among adolescents increased 128 percent between 1960 and 2000.ref
According to a 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) Report, 28 percent of the nation's youth have participated in a serious fight either at school or at work, have taken part in a group-against-group fight, or have attacked others with the intent of seriously hurting them.ref
The U.S. Department of Justice reports that juveniles are twice as likely as adults to be victims of serious violent crime and three times as likely to be victims of assault.ref
In one-third of the sexual assaults reported to law enforcement, the victim is under the age of 12.ref
According to a comprehensive 1995 study of the prevalence of violence among youth, approximately 8.8 million youths indicated that they had seen someone else being shot, stabbed, sexually assaulted, physically assaulted, or threatened with a weapon.ref
An estimated one in eight 17-year-olds have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder at some point in their lifetimes, according to the same study cited above.ref
The average child sees 16,000 murders on television by age 18. Although homicide rates have decreased, network news coverage of homicides has ballooned.ref

Did You Know?

The suicide rate among adolescents increased 128 percent between 1960 and 2000.