Bullying rates have decreased over the past decade
(Mirror Daily, United States) – A new study published in the journal Pediatrics suggests that bullying is no longer a problem. After looking at the behavior of children from 109 Maryland schools, they discovered that the situation showed great improvement.
Around 246,000 pupils aged between 10 and 18 participated in this study. Many researchers looked at the social and emotional impact that bullying might have on children, but quite a few produced statistics on the bullying rate in schools.
Professor Catherine Bradshaw from the University of Virginia says that this social concern usually receives a lot of attention. However, this is the first study which shows that the situation has actually become better. Thus, fewer children get bullied nowadays.
The study questioned the students on what types of activities they experienced. They reported about what kinds of behaviors they witnessed at school, if they ever were the victims of bullying, and if they felt safe in that environment.
The results were encouraging. Researchers discovered that 80 percent of the students felt safe at school. Around a quarter of them said that they were victims of bullying, while more than half of them were present when someone else was bullied.
However, the study concentrated on a period of ten years and the researchers could see how the situation improved. What is even greater is the fact that these decreases appeared among older students.
This study contradicts the general perception that bullying rates are increasing, yet this does not mean that it is over. Less students get bullied at school now, but some other methods became more popular. With the increase of technology and social media use, cyberbullying is now more widespread, especially among young students.
Such a research is encouraging, as children no longer are engaged in socially crippling behaviors which might affect them later in life. However, there is still a lot to do until we can put a stop to bullying.
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