Fewer Kids Are Getting Bullied in School, Report Says

Bullying has dropped in recent years, according to a new study.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) compiled the latest data from 2013 on kids ages 12-18 who reported whether they had been bullied at school—or had been called names, made fun of, threatened, shoved or made the subject of rumors, among other destructive behaviors—during the school year. About 22% of students said that they had: an all-time low since 2005, when bullying statistics were first collected. (In 2011, by comparison, 28% of students surveyed had reported being bullied.)

Though bullying statistics dropped across the board, girls in 2013 were still being bullied more than boys. From the latest data, 24% of female students said they were bullied at school, while 19% of boys reported the same. Breaking the numbers down by race, 24% of white students reported being bullied, while 20% of black students, 19% of Hispanic students and 9% of Asian students said they were victims of bullying.

Cyberbullying was down, too. Only 6.9% of students in 2013 reported being cyberbullied, or experienced unwanted contact on email, social media, instant message or text message, which was down from 9% in 2011.

“Bullying remains a serious issue for students and their families, and efforts to reduce bullying concern policy makers, administrators, and educators,” the NCES wrote on its blog.