In-depth facts and statistics on bullying and cyberbullying
The Diana Award’s Anti-Bullying Ambassador Programme empowers students and staff to change the attitudes, behaviours and culture of bullying behaviour. Our peer-led and whole school approach builds young people’s skills and confidence and supports them to reduce bullying behaviour both online and offline, in their schools and wider communities.
To help you understand bullying behaviour and get started on your anti-bullying campaigns, we have compiled a list of facts and statistics on bullying behaviour, including cyberbullying behaviour and bullying behaviour targeted at specific groups. We also explore the impact that bullying behaviour can have on young people.
Prevalence of bullying behaviour
Many surveys have been conducted to understand the prevalence of bullying behaviour but it can be difficult to give a definite estimate because each survey focuses on young people of different ages and asks them different questions, both of which may affect the results. But here are some of the most reliable figures that we have:
22% of young people aged 12-20 say they have experienced bullying behaviour in the past 12 months. 45% had experienced it at least once a month, and 31% had experienced it at least once a week. [10]
1 in 10 (11%) 8-11-year olds say they have personally experienced some form of bullying behaviour. [3]
1 in 5 (20%) 12-15-year olds say they have personally experienced some form of bullying behaviour. [3]
36% of young people aged 8 to 22 are worried about experiencing bullying behaviour at school, college or university. [10]
Bullying behaviour is one of the most common concerns in calls to Childline. [1]
- In 2018/2019, Childline delivered 15,851 counselling sessions about peer-to-peer bullying behaviour, either face-to-face or online.
- Bullying behaviour is the fourth most common concern in the counselling sessions (7% of sessions), after mental or emotional health (30%), family relationships (11%) and suicidal thoughts or feelings (10%).
- Bullying behaviour is the main concern for children aged 11 years of under who called Childline (20% of sessions).
- It is the fourth highest concern for 12-15-year olds (7%), and the 10th highest concern for 16-18-year olds (2%). These older groups were most concerned about their mental or emotional health.
- Bullying behaviour is the topic of a higher proportion of calls with boys compared to girls: Bullying behaviour is the third highest concern for boys talking to Childline (11% of the sessions), the fifth highest for girls (6%), and the sixth highest for transgender children (3%). [1]
36% of parents and carers have said their child had been a target of bullying behaviour at least once in the last year. [18]
29% of English secondary school head teachers received reports of physical and non-physical bullying behaviour amongst students. England has the second highest percentage of reports out of all the OECD countries (the OECD average is 14%). [24]
27% of young people say they have witnessed bullying behaviour in the last 12 months. [10]
80% of bus drivers have witnessed bullying behaviour on the school bus. [13]
Cyberbullying behaviour
Between 2011-2016, Childline saw an 88% increase in counselling about cyberbullying behaviour. [2]
Although there has been an increase in cyberbullying behaviour, young people still experience a lot of face-to-face bullying behaviour. In 2015/16, Childline provided similar numbers of counselling sessions about physical bullying behaviour (4,723 sessions, 51%) and cyberbullying behaviour (4,541 sessions, 49%). [2]
Nine out of ten who experience cyberbullying behaviour also experience face-to-face bullying behaviour. While 27% experience bullying behaviour face-to-face only, less than 1% of 15-year olds only experience cyberbullying behaviour. [26]
12-15-year-olds are similarly as likely to say they have experienced bullying behaviour face-to-face (16%) as they have on social media (14%), or through messaging apps or texts (12%). [23]
Spending more than 10 hours a week on social media doubles the chances that a 12-15-year-old will experience cyberbullying behaviour. 26% report experiencing cyberbullying behaviour when they spend more than 10 hours per week on social media, compared to 12% amongst those spending under 10 hours. [23]
Differently to 12-15-year olds, children aged 8-11 are more likely to say they have experienced bullying behaviour face-to-face (14%), than on social media (3%) or messaging apps or texts (5%). [23]
22% of young people say someone has posted an image or video to display bullying behaviour towards them. [4]
38% of young people have experienced negative comments on a photo they had posted online, and this is more common for 13-17-year olds (45%) compared to 8-12-year olds (32%). [4]
Nearly half of 12-15-year-olds feel it is not OK for people to be able to say what they want online if it is hurtful to others, but 3 in 10 remain unsure if it is OK or not. [23]
Children’s exposure to bullying behaviour, abusive behaviour or threats is the biggest concern about being online for adults and 12-15-year old (55% of adults cite it as a concern, 53% of 12-15-year-olds). [22]
79% of 12-15-year-old internet users claim that they have had at least one potentially harmful experience online in the past 12 months. 23% have come across bullying behaviour. [22]
61% of 12-15-year-old internet users agree that the internet makes children’s lives better. [22]
36% of 12-15-year-old internet users say that online bullies put them off using social media. [22]
When asked about their experiences of mobile games, 33.5% of young people had experienced bullying behaviour on these games. 9.3% experienced serious repeated bullying. [14]
For children who have experienced bullying behaviour, boys are more likely to have experienced it via online gaming (a third) than girls (1 in 10). [23]
Children and young people with disabilities are more likely to experience online hate (38% compared to 21% of those with no disability). [7]
40% of LGBT young people have been the target of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic abuse online. [8]
97% of LGBT young people see homophobic, biphobic and transphobic content online [8]
Who experiences bullying behaviour
59% of young people who have experienced bullying behaviour in the past 12-months think that it was because of others’ attitudes towards their appearance. [10]
46% think it’s due to their hobbies or interests, 25% due to the clothes they wear and 24% experience being called gay/lesbian when they are not. [10]
1 in 4 young people have experienced online hate because of their gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, disability or transgender identity. [7]
82% of young people had seen or heard online hate speech about a specific group, most often based on religion, sexual orientation or race. [7]
35% of young people have seen friends posting offensive or threatening things online about people from a specific group. [7]
Almost half of lesbian, gay, bi and trans pupils (45%) experience bullying behaviour for being LGBT at school. This rises to 64% for trans pupils. [8]
Around half of LGBT pupils ‘frequently’ or ‘often’ hear homophobic (52%) or transphobic (46%) language at school. 86% regularly hear phrases such as ‘that’s so gay’ or ‘you’re so gay’. [8]
Nearly one in ten trans pupils (9%) have experienced receiving death threats at school.
71% of 16-18-year-olds say they hear terms such as ‘slut’ or ‘slag’ used towards girls at schools on a regular basis. [15]
A third of girls and young women (aged 11-21) have experienced controlling behaviour and/or bullying behaviour from a partner. [16]
1 in 4 Muslim adolescents have reported being experiencing bullying behaviour because of their religion. [17]
36% of young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) report experiencing bullying behaviour (vs. 29% of their peers). [24]
Perpetrators of bullying behaviour
62% of young people who experienced bullying behaviour within the past 12-months said this came from a classmate. [10]
37% experienced bullying behaviour from someone at school they don’t know, 34% by an ex-friend, 30% by an enemy and 30% by a close friend. [10]
10% didn’t know the perpetrator and 10% only knew the person online. [10]
9% experienced bullying behaviour by their brother/sister. [10]
59% of LGBT young people who have experienced bullying behaviour online have experienced it by someone they know, while 45% have experienced it by a stranger. 18% who have experienced bullying behaviour online didn’t know who the perpertrator was. [8]
2% of young people say they have displayed bullying behaviour towards somebody. [10]
16% of young people admit to having displayed cyberbullying behaviour towards others. [5]
Impact of bullying behaviour
Mental health & wellbeing
Bullying behaviour can cause emotional distress and anxiety, loneliness and depression, suicidal ideation and self-harm. [6]
55% of young people who experience bullying behaviour report experiencing a moderate to extreme impact on their mental health. [10]
More than 60% of young people who have experienced bullying behaviour in the last 12-months say it had a moderate to extreme impact on their self-esteem (67%), confidence (66%), optimism and positivity (63%), and social life (64%). [10]
Young people who have experienced bullying behaviour in the last 12-months feel depressed (45%), anxious (41%) and experience suicidal thoughts (33%) and self-harm (26%) as a result. [10]
11% of young people who have experienced bullying behaviour have attempted suicide. [10]
LGBT pupils who have experienced bullying behaviour for being LGBT are more likely to deliberately harm themselves than those who haven’t (75% compared to 58%). [8]
LGBT young people who have experienced bullying behaviour for being LGBT are more likely to have thought about taking their own life than those who haven’t (84% compared to 67%). [8]
12% of young people who have experienced bullying behaviour in the last 12-months developed an eating disorder [10]
Childhood experiences of bullying behaviour is linked to increased loneliness at aged 18 [11]
40% of young people sometimes don’t post images because they are concerned about receiving negative comments [4]
Education & Work
There is a correlation between experiences of bullying behaviour and lower GCSE results. Young people who have experienced bullying behaviour on average achieve two grades less in one GCSE qualification compared to peers who haven’t. [25]
20% of young people who have experienced bullying behaviour in the last 12-months skipped school or school because of it [10]. This rises to 40% of pupils who have experienced bullying behaviour for being LGBT [8].
50% of young people who have experienced bullying behaviour in the last 12-months said it had a moderate to extreme impact on their studies. [10]
Around 93,000 11-15-year-olds who are without school provision in England cite bullying behaviour as the primary or secondary reason for their self-exclusion. [9]
Half of LGBT pupils who have experienced bullying behaviour (52%) feel that homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying behaviour has had a negative effect on their plans for future education [8]
One in five LGBT – including one in three trans pupils – don’t feel safe in their school. [8]
41% of LGBT pupils – including 57% of trans pupils – worry about experiencing bullying behaviour at school. [8]
For LGBT people, experiencing bullying behaviour at school is associated with lower levels of education and career progression, particularly in men. [12]
LGBT people who experienced bullying behaviour at school were more likely to experience bullying behaviour in the workplace and lower job satisfaction in later life. [12]
Traveller girls tend to leave school earlier than other girls and have some of the lowest education outcomes. [19] The most common reason for being excluded from school is when they fight back against those who display bullying behaviour towards them. [20]
1 in 6 girls have missed school or work as a result of worrying about their appearance. [21]
Tackling bullying behaviour
Reporting
72% of young people who have experienced bulling behaviour reported it, while 28% never told anybody [10].
- The main reasons for not telling were fears of it getting worse and being called a snitch (38% each), embarrassment (34%) and not feeling like it was serious enough (32%). [10]
- 24% of young people didn’t tell anyone about their experiences of bullying behaviour because they have in the past and nothing happened, and 17% felt their teachers didn’t care.
- 31% of young people didn’t tell anyone about their experiences of bullying behaviour because they didn’t want to feel like a victim.
Young people are more likely to tell a parent (89%) that they have seen something worrying or nasty online, compared to anyone else (74%). [23]
Boys are less likely than girls to tell anybody that they’ve seen something worrying or nasty online (88% vs. 94%). [23]
Almost half of LGBT pupils (45%) who experience bullying behaviour for being LGBT never tell anyone about the bullying behaviour. [8]
Three quarters (75%) of LGBT pupils who have experienced bullying behaviour online did not report the abuse to the website, game or app it happened on. [8]
Two thirds of LGBT young people (65%) think that online platforms are unlikely to do anything about tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic content or incidents when it is reported to them. [8]
85% of parents of 5-15-year-olds talk to their child about online safety. [23]
Upstanding
Most young people (55%) who have seen online hate say they just ignored it. [7]
20-25% of young people reported online hate to the app or website [7, 22], even though 68% say they know how. [7]
Two-thirds of 12-15-year-olds have sent positive messages, comments or posts to friends who are having a hard time. [23]
38% of young people believe their school, university or college doesn’t take bullying behaviour seriously. [10]
Less than a third of LGBT pupils who have experienced bullying behaviour (29%) say that teachers intervened when they were present during the bullying incident. [8]
7 out of 10 LGBT pupils report that teachers or school staff only ‘sometimes’ or ‘never’ challenge homophobic, biphobic and transphobic language when they hear it. [8]
7 out of 10 LGBT pupils report that their schools say homophobic and biphobic bullying behaviour is wrong, compared to just 4 out of 10 for transphobic bullying . [8]
SOURCES
1. Childline Annual Review (2018-19)
2. Childline Bullying Report (2015-16)
3. Ofcom Children and Parents (2018): Media Use and Attitudes
4. UK Safer Internet Centre (2017): Power of Image
6. UKCCIS Evidence Group (2017): Children’s Online Activities, Risks and Safety
7. UK Safer Internet Centre (2016): Creating a Better Internet for All
8. Stonewall (2017): The School Report
9. Red Balloon & Anglia Ruskin University (2020)
10. Ditch the Label (2019): The Anti-Bullying Survey
13. Vodden, P. & Noret, N. (2019). The Vodden Report 3: An Agenda for Change
16. Girlguiding (2019): We See The Big Picture: Girls’ Attitudes Survey 2018
18. Department for Education (2019): Omnibus survey of pupils and their parents or carers: wave 5
19. Cabinet Office (2018): Race Disparity Audit
20. Timpson Review of School Exclusion (2019)
21. Plan UK (2019): Society Needs a Makeover
22. Ofcom (2019): Internet users’ concerns about and experience of potential online harms
23. Ofcom (2019): Children and parents: Media use and attitudes report 2019
24. OECD & TALIS (2018): Teachers and School Leaders as Valued Professionals
25. Department for Education (2018): Bullying: Evidence from LSYPE2, wave 3
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