Study Finds Bullying Linked to Lower Academic Achievement
The results of a long-term study tracking the effects of bullying on academic achievement suggest that even moderate levels of bullying can negatively affect a student’s performance in school.
The report, published by the American Psychological Association, states that 24 percent of students involved in the study experienced chronic levels of bullying during their school years, resulting in lower academic achievement, a greater dislike of school and less confidence in their academic abilities.
Children who experienced moderate levels of bullying that increased as they got older (18 percent of the sample) had similar outcomes. In contrast, students who experienced a decrease in bullying over time (26 percent) exhibited fewer academic effects, similar to those who had experienced little or no bullying (32 percent). The study followed nearly 400 children in public school from kindergarten through high school. Read the full release on this study at apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/edu-edu0000177.pdf.
Learn more about efforts to address and prevent bullying in North Carolina schools at ncschoolcounselor.org/bullying-prevention.