The American Psychological Association defines bullying as “aggressive behavior in which someone intentionally and repeatedly causes another person injury or discomfort.” Such behaviors can take the form of physical contact, verbal attacks, or other more subtle actions. Sadly, those being bullied often have no idea what they did to spark the assaults and have difficulty fighting the aggressor. See the 20 warning signs your child may be being bullied at school.
According to StopBullying.gov, a website on bullying prevention managed by the Department of Health and Human Services, bullying can have a profound and lasting impact on a child targeted with aggressive behavior by a friend or classmate. Depression and anxiety, physical ailments, and poor academic achievement often plague the bullied youngster. Many students are forced to drop out of school to escape their tormentor.
In today’s virtually connected society, bullying doesn’t have to happen face to face. Cyberbullying has become an increasing psychosocial problem facing young people. That’s why the government and schools have prioritized bullying prevention programs to keep school children safe and mentally healthy.
To assess the scope of bullying among young people, the government developed the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System Survey in 1990 to monitor health behaviors contributing markedly to the leading causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth and adults in the United States.
To determine the states where bullying is the biggest problem, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the share of high school students who were bullied on school property in the past year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System Survey, for the 41 states with available data.
Click here to see the states where bullying is the biggest problem
Data on the share of students who were electronically bullied (including bullied through texting, Instagram, Facebook, or other social media); the share of students who reported feeling sad or hopeless every day for two weeks or more in a row and stopped doing some usual activities; and the share of students who seriously considered attempting suiсide also came from the high school YRBSS. All data is ranked by the 41 states.
Although this is a state-by-state list, bullying is a national problem. Nearly 20% of all high school students nationwide reported being bullied on school grounds. Another 15.7% said the behavior happened online. As many as 36.7% of high schoolers reported feelings of hopeless and sad, and nearly 19% contemplated suiсide. (These are the best public high schools in every state.)
Looking at individual states, Alaskan children suffer the most bullying, with 25.5% reporting being bullied on school property in the past year. More than 19% report online buying, the second highest percentage on the list. Alarmingly, a quarter — 25.3% — say they’ve considered suiсide, the second highest percentage of the states considered.
Even the state rated as having less of a bullying problem reported distressingly high incidences of harmful behaviors. More than 14% reported being bullied at school, with 12% saying they were the victims of online bullying. Roughly 40% said they felt sad and hopeless, the eighth highest percentage, and 18.9% said they contemplated suiсide. Perhaps one day the percentages will hit zero.
41. Texas
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 14.3%
> High schoolers bullied online: 12.2% — 4th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 38.3%– 8th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 18.9% — 16th highest
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40. Georgia
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 14.5%
> High schoolers bullied online: 10.6% — the lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 29.9%– 2nd lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 18.5% — 19th lowest
39. Nevada
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 14.6%
> High schoolers bullied online: 11.9% — 3rd lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 42.5%– 2nd highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 18.4% — 16th lowest
38. Florida
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 14.9%
> High schoolers bullied online: 11.3% — 2nd lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 33.7%– 14th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 15.6% — 4th lowest
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37. Colorado
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 15.4%
> High schoolers bullied online: 12.2% — 5th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 33.8%– 15th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 18.8% — 21st highest
36. New Jersey
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 16.4%
> High schoolers bullied online: 13.8% — 12th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 35.8%– 21st highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 14.5% — 3rd lowest
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35. Rhode Island
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 16.4%
> High schoolers bullied online: 13.0% — 6th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 32.3%– 8th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 13.3% — 2nd lowest
34. Maryland
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 16.7%
> High schoolers bullied online: 13.5% — 10th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 32.0%– 7th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 18.0% — 14th lowest
33. Hawaii
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 17.0%
> High schoolers bullied online: 13.1% — 7th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 34.7%– 17th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 16.7% — 8th lowest
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32. New Mexico
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 17.4%
> High schoolers bullied online: 13.3% — 8th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 40.4%– 4th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 18.8% — 20th highest
31. Virginia
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 17.4%
> High schoolers bullied online: 13.9% — 13th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 32.4%– 9th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 16.0% — 7th lowest
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30. Connecticut
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 17.8%
> High schoolers bullied online: 14.3% — 15th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 30.6%– 4th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 12.7% — the lowest
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29. Arizona
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 18.2%
> High schoolers bullied online: 13.4% — 9th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 40.6%– 3rd highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 20.9% — 9th highest
28. Utah
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 18.4%
> High schoolers bullied online: 15.8% — 18th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 36.7%– 14th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 22.3% — 5th highest
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27. Mississippi
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 18.5%
> High schoolers bullied online: 13.6% — 11th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 35.7%– 20th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 18.8% — 18th highest
26. North Carolina
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 18.9%
> High schoolers bullied online: 14.8% — 19th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 36.3%– 19th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 18.9% — 17th highest
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25. Pennsylvania
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 19.1%
> High schoolers bullied online: 14.3% — 14th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 34.5%– 16th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 17.2% — 9th lowest
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24. Louisiana
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 19.3%
> High schoolers bullied online: 15.0% — 20th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 37.0%– 13th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 17.7% — 12th lowest
23. Oklahoma
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 19.4%
> High schoolers bullied online: 14.5% — 16th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 38.6%– 7th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 22.2% — 6th highest
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22. Illinois
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 19.9%
> High schoolers bullied online: 16.0% — 17th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 36.3%– 18th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 19.0% — 15th highest
21. North Dakota
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 19.9%
> High schoolers bullied online: 14.7% — 17th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 30.5%– 3rd lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 18.8% — 19th highest
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20. Alabama
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 20.9%
> High schoolers bullied online: 16.1% — 16th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 37.5%– 11th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 20.7% — 10th highest
19. Missouri
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 21.0%
> High schoolers bullied online: 18.1% — 6th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 32.7%– 11th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 17.4% — 11th lowest
18. New York
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 21.0%
> High schoolers bullied online: 17.3% — 12th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 35.1%– 18th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 17.3% — 10th lowest
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17. Kansas
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 21.1%
> High schoolers bullied online: 17.2% — 13th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 32.5%– 10th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 18.4% — 17th lowest
16. Idaho
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 21.2%
> High schoolers bullied online: 16.7% — 14th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 38.9%– 6th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 21.6% — 7th highest
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15. South Dakota
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 21.2%
> High schoolers bullied online: 16.1% — 15th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 35.7%– 19th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 23.1% — 4th highest
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14. Nebraska
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 21.3%
> High schoolers bullied online: 15.7% — 19th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 32.0%– 6th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 17.7% — 13th lowest
13. Michigan
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 21.4%
> High schoolers bullied online: 18.1% — 5th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 36.4%– 17th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 18.7% — 20th lowest
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12. Tennessee
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 21.5%
> High schoolers bullied online: 14.9% — 21st highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 37.5%– 10th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 19.2% — 14th highest
11. Montana
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 22.0%
> High schoolers bullied online: 17.9% — 9th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 36.7%– 15th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 23.4% — 3rd highest
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10. Wisconsin
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 22.3%
> High schoolers bullied online: 17.4% — 10th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 28.5%– the lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 15.7% — 5th lowest
9. Maine
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 22.4%
> High schoolers bullied online: 18.0% — 7th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 31.4%– 5th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 15.8% — 6th lowest
8. Arkansas
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 22.6%
> High schoolers bullied online: 17.4% — 11th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 35.9%– 20th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 19.7% — 13th highest
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7. West Virginia
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 22.7%
> High schoolers bullied online: 18.4% — 4th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 36.4%– 16th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 20.9% — 8th highest
6. New Hampshire
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 23.0%
> High schoolers bullied online: 20.1% — the highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 33.6%– 13th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 18.4% — 18th lowest
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5. Iowa
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 23.0%
> High schoolers bullied online: 18.6% — 3rd highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 33.3%– 12th lowest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 20.0% — 11th highest
4. South Carolina
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 23.3%
> High schoolers bullied online: 14.9% — 20th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 39.0%– 5th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 19.9% — 12th highest
3. California
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 23.5%
> High schoolers bullied online: 14.7% — 18th lowest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 45.3%– the highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 26.6% — the highest
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2. Kentucky
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 23.8%
> High schoolers bullied online: 18.0% — 8th highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 37.2%– 12th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 18.4% — 15th lowest
1. Alaska
> High schoolers bullied on school property: 25.5%
> High schoolers bullied online: 19.4% — 2nd highest
> High schoolers feeling sad or hopeless: 38.1%– 9th highest
> High schoolers considering suiсide: 25.3% — 2nd highest
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