Safety and Bullying

According to the 2005 Florida Youth Risk Behavior Survey ¹, approximately 8 percent of students reported being threatened or injured with a weapon while on school property one or more times during the 12 months prior to the survey. School safety research shows that the lack of physical and/or emotional safety is likely to result in negative educational outcomes. When students are afraid to attend school, or spend time at school worrying about safety rather than academics, they can not learn.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, children are threatened, teased, or tormented by bullies every day in our nation’s schools. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development reported that nearly one third of U.S. students in grades 6 to10 were involved in bullying incidents.

 The American Medical Association has recognized bullying as a behavior with potentially serious social and mental health consequences for children and adolescents. The negative outcomes of bullying and victimization include an increased risk of mental health disorders, antisocial behavior, and poor academic achievement. Children who are bullied may have lower self-esteem and higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression, illness, and suicidal ideation. Children who bully are at an increased risk for alcoholism, substance abuse, and antisocial personality disorders, and are more likely to drop out of school. They are also more likely to have a criminal conviction as an adult.

 Safety and Bullying of Pinellas County Students

 The 2006 prevalence of substance use survey of Pinellas County students included questions on bullying and other safety behaviors.²

 Summary of Survey Findings

·         The percent of students reporting carrying a weapon on school property is more prevalent in grades 8, 10, and 12, compared to other grade levels.

·         Missing school because of safety concerns is more prevalent in grades 5, 6, and 8, than in grades 10 and 12.

·         Middle school students are more likely to be involved in a physical fight on school property than are high school students.

·         There is no significant difference between middle- and high-school male and female students in the prevalence of safety concerns that result in missing school. Females in the 5th grade, however, report a significantly higher prevalence of missing school because of safety concerns, compared to male students.
 

Prevalence of School-Risk Behaviors: 2004 and 2006
Grade	Carried a Weapon on School Property		Missed School Because of Safety Concerns		Was Threatened or Injured with Weapon at School		Was in a Physical Fight on School Property
	2004	2006	2004	2006	2004	2006	2004	2006
5	1.60%	1.20%	6.60%	7.80%	6.60%	6.30%	17.20%	19.90%
6	2.30%	1.50%	8.00%	8.20%	8.40%	6.80%	19.80%	18.00%
8	4.50%	3.10%	7.70%	6.50%	9.70%	8.50%	22.90%	19.10%
10	6.10%	3.90%	5.50%	3.70%	11.20%	8.70%	13.80%	10.50%
12	6.40%	3.60%	5.70%	2.40%	10.50%	7.40%	11.40%	7.10%

·         About one half of students in grades 5, 6, and 8, and one third of high school students report being subjected to teasing by fellow students.

·         Students in the 5th grade and those in middle school report physical contact as the second most prevalent form of bullying behavior.

·         Across all grade levels, female students report being subjected to teasing, exclusion from group activities, and having mean comments directed to them more often than do male students. Male students, on the other hand, more often report begin subjected to various forms of physical contact than do females.

The percent of students subjected to bullying behavior declines as grade level increases.
 

Percent of Students Subjected to Bullying Behavior: 2006 Bullying Behavior Grade 5 6 8 10 12 Teased 53.0% 50.9% 49.0% 36.4% 30.0% Excluded from group 40.5% 32.6% 30.5% 23.3% 22.2% Subjected to mean comments 43.9% 38.8% 38.3% 30.0% 28.9% Hit, kicked, pushed, or shoved 50.5% 47.7% 43.4% 28.4% 20.1% Property deliberately damaged or stolen 23.8% 22.6% 19.6% 12.5% 11.6%

¹ Florida Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2005). Florida Department of Health, Fact Sheet 2.

² 2006 Prevalence of Substance Use Among Pinellas County Students, Part I, June 2007,  School Board of Pinellas County; JWB Children’s Services Council of Pinellas County and Operation PAR, Inc.

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