School bullying remains a measurable classroom-management challenge in the United States and worldwide. In 2023, 19% of U.S. high school students said they had been bullied at school during the past year, while 16% said they had been electronically bullied. Broader U.S. data for the 2021–22 school year show that 19.2% of students ages 12–18 reported being bullied during school.
Contents
- U.S. high school bullying in 2023
- Electronic bullying among high school students
- Differences by student and school characteristics
- What bullying looked like
- Where bullying occurred
- Frequency and adult notification
- Global school bullying comparisons
U.S. high school bullying in 2023
The CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report: 2013–2023 measured whether high school students had been bullied at school during the previous year. The 2023 all-student estimate was 19%. The same measure varied by sex, race and ethnicity, and student identity.
Among female high school students, 22% reported being bullied at school during the past year, compared with 17% of male students. The survey reported bullying for 23% of White students, 21% of multiracial students, 17% of American Indian or Alaska Native students, 16% of Hispanic students, 14% of Black students, 11% of Asian students, and 6% of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. These are survey estimates for U.S. high school students in 2023; they should not be treated as counts of every student or as directly comparable with measures using a different age range or reference period. CDC, Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report: 2013–2023
The identity-related estimates also show a substantial difference. In 2023, 16% of cisgender and heterosexual high school students reported being bullied at school during the past year, compared with 29% of LGBTQ+ students. The categories and wording come from the CDC report, and the estimates describe reported experiences rather than an independently verified count of incidents. CDC, Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report: 2013–2023
Electronic bullying among high school students
Electronic bullying was reported by 16% of all U.S. high school students in 2023. Female students reported it at 21%, compared with 12% of male students. By race and ethnicity, the reported percentages were 20% for White students, 18% for multiracial students, 15% for American Indian or Alaska Native students, 14% for Hispanic students, 13% for Asian students, 11% for Black students, and 4% for Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students.
Electronic bullying was reported by 13% of cisgender and heterosexual students and 25% of LGBTQ+ students. The CDC measure refers to the previous year and is specific to U.S. high school students surveyed in 2023. It is not the same measure as the NCES location estimate for students who reported bullying online or by text during the 2021–22 school year. CDC, Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report: 2013–2023
Differences by student and school characteristics
The National Center for Education Statistics reported that 19.2% of U.S. students ages 12–18 were bullied during the 2021–22 school year. For comparison, the reported rate was 28.5% during the 2004–05 school year. These two figures come from selected school years in an NCES trend table, so the change is a comparison of reported survey estimates across measurement periods, not a count of prevented incidents.
In 2021–22, 21.8% of female students ages 12–18 reported being bullied, compared with 16.7% of male students. The reported percentages were 21.6% for White students, 17.0% for Black students, and 16.4% for Hispanic students. By grade, 26.9% of sixth-grade students and 25.1% of eighth-grade students reported being bullied, compared with 10.4% of eleventh-grade students.
School sector also showed a difference in the NCES data: 20.0% of public-school students ages 12–18 reported being bullied, compared with 14.5% of private-school students. The age range, school year, and student population differ from the CDC’s 2023 high school survey, so these estimates are best read as related measures rather than one combined series. NCES, Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied during school during the school year, by selected student and school characteristics: Selected school years, 2004–05 through 2021–22
| U.S. student group or period | Reported bullied percentage | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Students ages 12–18, all students | 19.2% | 2021–22 school year |
| Students ages 12–18, female | 21.8% | 2021–22 school year |
| Students ages 12–18, male | 16.7% | 2021–22 school year |
| Sixth grade | 26.9% | 2021–22 school year |
| Eleventh grade | 10.4% | 2021–22 school year |
| Public school | 20.0% | 2021–22 school year |
| Private school | 14.5% | 2021–22 school year |
What bullying looked like
NCES data for 2021–22 describe the types of bullying reported by U.S. students ages 12–18 who said they had been bullied. Spreading rumors was the most frequently reported type in this set, at 68.3%. Being made fun of, called names, or insulted was reported by 62.3%.
Physical acts were reported less often but still affected 25.5% of bullied students: they reported being pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on. Exclusion from activities, social media, or communications was reported by 19.4%. Threats of harm were reported by 17.2%.
Other reported forms included attempts to make students do things they did not want to do, at 13.3%, and the intentional sharing of private information, photos, or videos, at 13.2%. Property being destroyed on purpose was reported by 7.2%.
These percentages are among students who reported being bullied, not among all students ages 12–18. A student could report more than one type, so the figures should not be added together. NCES, Among students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied during school, percentage reporting various types of bullying: School year 2021–22
Where bullying occurred
Location data can help classroom-management teams examine supervision and reporting routines. Among U.S. students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied and identified a location during the 2021–22 school year, 39.0% reported bullying inside the classroom. Another 37.5% reported bullying in a hallway or stairwell, while 21.6% reported bullying online or by text.
The location percentages apply to bullied students who identified a location, rather than to all students. They also do not establish that a particular setting caused the bullying or that every incident occurred in only one place. NCES, Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied during school during the school year and, among bullied students, percentage who reported being bullied in various locations: School year 2021–22
Frequency and adult notification
Among U.S. students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied during the 2021–22 school year, 32% said it happened on 1 day, 18% said it happened on 2 days, 31% said it happened on 3 to 10 days, and 18% said it happened on more than 10 days. The categories describe how often the reported bullying happened during that school year.
Frequency varied by grade among students who reported being bullied. More than 10 days was reported by 22% of seventh-grade students and 25% of eighth-grade students. The corresponding percentages were 11% for eleventh-grade students and 9% for twelfth-grade students.
About 44% of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied said they notified an adult at school. This figure describes notification, not whether the adult observed the event, confirmed it, or resolved it. It also means that the majority of bullied students in this measure did not report notifying an adult at school. NCES, Among students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied during school, percentage reporting various frequencies of bullying and the notification of an adult at school: School year 2021–22
Global school bullying comparisons
UNESCO’s Behind the numbers: Ending school violence and bullying synthesized the latest available survey years from the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) and the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in a 2019 publication. Across that synthesis, 32% of students reported being bullied by peers at school on one or more days in the previous month.
Within 96 GSHS countries and territories, 19.4% of students reported being bullied at school on 1 or 2 days during the previous month, while 7.3% reported being bullied on 6 or more days. In 50 PIRLS countries and territories, 29% of 9- to 10-year-olds reported being bullied every month during the past school year.
These global figures use different surveys, age groups, reference periods, and geographic sets. The GSHS and HBSC synthesis is not a 2026 global estimate, and the PIRLS figure should not be directly compared with the U.S. high school or U.S. ages 12–18 measures without accounting for those scope differences. UNESCO, Behind the numbers: Ending school violence and bullying