How many students are harassed or bullied?

Over 29,000 public school students reported harassment or bullying based on their sex, race, or disability during the 2020–2021 school year, according to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR).

Data shows that this kind of bullying and harassment was down 84% from the 2011–2012 school year to 2020–2021. In that decade, the number of full-time school counselors nationwide increased by 83%, from 69,358.91 in 2011–2012 to 127,201.09 in 2020–2021.

Which students are more susceptible to harassment or bullying?

In 2020–2021, female students made 63% of reports of harassment or bullying based on sex; 78% of the students disciplined for this harassment/bullying were male.

Male students were more likely to report harassment or bullying based on race (59.6%), and Black students made 37.2% of race-related reports. The OCR also reports that American Indian or Alaska Native students were overrepresented in all three reporting categories: they are 1% of the K–12 student populations, but 2% of the students who reported harassment or bullying.

How is this data collected?

The OCR conducts the Civil Rights Data Collection biannually among all US public schools and districts, long-term secure juvenile justice facilities, charter schools, alternative schools, and special education schools. In 2020–2021, OCR collected data from over 49.1 million students at 97,575 schools in 17,821 districts spanning all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico.

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