NCJ Number
232861
Date Published
March 2009
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This report to the Maryland General Assembly presents data on the state of bullying, harassment, or intimidation in Maryland public schools.
Abstract
For the 2007-2008 school year a total of 1,294 incidents of bullying, harassment, or intimidation were reported in the 24 local school systems in the State, a 12 percent-decrease from the previous school year. The majority of the incidents, 89.1 percent, occurred on school property, while 9.6 percent occurred on a school bus. Direct verbal bullying/harassment was reported as the most prevalent form of bullying (56.6 percent), while 30.8 percent of the incidents were physical, involving hitting, kicking, shoving, spitting, hair pulling, or something being thrown. The most frequent victims of bullying/harassment incidents were 12-year olds (16.4 percent), with 51.2 percent of victims being between the ages of 11 and 14. For offenders, the greatest number of bullying/harassment incidents were perpetrated by 12 year olds, with the majority of perpetrators being between the ages of 12 and 14 (51.4 percent). This report is submitted on a yearly basis to the Maryland General Assembly as a requirement of the Safe Schools Reporting Act of 2005. The report presents data obtained from the 24 local school systems in the State on the number of incidents of bullying, harassment, or intimidation in the public school systems in the State. Figures and appendixes