Bullying

.
             The following is a list of facts based on the current research about bullying :.
              80% of adolescents reported being bullied during their school years .
              90% of 4th through 8th graders report being victims .
              15% of students bully regularly or are victims of bullies .
              Up to 7% of 8th grade students stay home at least once a month because of bullies .
              Bullies identified by age eight are six times more likely to be convicted of a crime by age twenty-four and five times more likely that non-bullies to end up with serious criminal records by the age of thirty. .
              Students reported that 71% of the teachers or other adults in the classroom ignored bullying incidents. .
             The NICHD (National of Child Health and Human Development) researchers surveyed 15,686 students in grades six-through-10, in public and other private schools throughout the U.S. The nationally representative survey was part of the U.S. contribution to the World Health Organization's Health Behavior in School Children survey. .
             For this study, researchers defined bullying as a type of behavior intended to harm or disturb the victim. This behavior occurs repeatedly over time and involves an imbalance of power, with the more powerful person or group attacking the less powerful one. Bullying may be physical, involving hitting or otherwise attacking the other person; verbal, involving name-calling or threats; or psychological, involving spreading rumors or excluding a person.
             The children were asked to complete a questionnaire during a class period that asked how often they either bullied other students, or were the target of bullying behavior. A total of 10.6 percent of the children replied that they had "sometimes" bullied other children, a response category defined as "moderate" bullying. An additional 8.8 percent said they had bullied others once a week or more, defined as "frequent "bullying.