Study: School bullying persists, sex crimes up
LGBT students cite more harassment than heterosexuals.
WASHINGTON — One in every 5 middle and high school students has complained of being bullied at school and the number of reports of sexual assault on college campuses has more than tripled over the past decade, according to a federal study released Tuesday.
“There are areas of concern in terms of bullying and rates of victimization being high,” said L auren Musu-Gillette, one of the authors of the report by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Justice Department.
“We are seeing a long-term decline, but we still want people to be paying attention to areas where rates are still high,” she said.
Even though the overall prevalence of bullying has been declining in American schools over the past decade, 21 percent of students ages 12-18 reported being bullied in 2015, the report found. That was slightly below the international average.
“Bullying is a public health issue because it really affects the mental wellness and health of students, and as we know, at the extreme end it can lead to everything from suicide to reactive violence,” said David Osher, vice president at the American Institutes for Research. “Because it happens, it doesn’t mean it has to happen.”
The picture was bleaker for gay, lesbian and bisexual students. Thirty-four percent of students who identified as LGBT complained of bullying, compared to 19 percent who identified as heterosexual.
“It’s a high number and a disproportionate number in comparison. We still have a lot of homophobic bias and it plays itself in schools,” said Charol Shakeshaft, an education professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. “Those students are singled out and isolated and harassed.”
Shakeshaft lamented the Tr u mp’s a d mi n i s t r a t i o n decision earlier this year to rescind Obama-era guidance on the use of bathrooms and other facilities for LGBT students, which she said helped them feel safer. When rescinding the guidance, the Education and the Justice departments said such decisions should be left to the states.
Osher said campaigns to raise awareness can only help so much in helping to fight bullying. He called for programs that build empathy and self-awareness, identity and provide support for students who have mental health problems and foster a positive climate in schools.
“If you directly focus on bullying without addressing overall issues regarding school climate, social and emotional development of students, you are likely ... to hit a ceiling,” Osher said.
The report also found a significant rise in reports of sexual assault on university campuses. Such instances jumped from 2,200 in 2001 to 6,700 in 2014.
Musu-Gillette cautioned, however, that it is not clear from the research whether the number of actual sex c r i mes has i nc re a s e d o r whether victims now feel s a f e r r e p o r t i n g t h e m t o authorities.
S e xu a l mi s c o n d u c t i n schools was also a prob - l e m. Dur i n g t h e 2 01 3 - 14 school year, 65 percent of public schools recorded one or more violent incidents. Less than 2 percent of those crimes were sexual battery and 0.2 percent were rape or attempted rape.
Former NFL player Aaron Hernandez said rumors that he was gay or bisexual were not true, his former fiancee said in an interview on the “Dr. Phil” show that aired T u e s d ay. S h ay a n n a Je n - kins-Hernandez said Hernandez, who was serving a life term for murder when he died, denied the rumors during a conversation she had with him about his sexuality. She said Hernandez was “very much a man” to her and called the rumors “embarrassing” and “hurtf ul . ” Je nki ns- Hernandez said in part of the interview that aired Monday that she doesn’t think the former New England Patriots tight end killed himself last month, as authorities have said. She said he was upbeat in their last telephone conversation before he was found hanged in his cell and that there was no indication he was suicidal