Schools Doing a Poor Job Addressing Bullying According to American Teens

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With the start of National Bullying Prevention Month, a new survey of American teens finds schools can and should be doing more to prevent torment in the classroom.

Only one in three teens reports that their school is doing a good job handling bullying, according to a new, national survey of American teenagers commissioned and developed by EdChoice and conducted by Morning Consult. The semi-annual survey asked 1,002 teenagers ages 13 to 18 their thoughts on a variety of school-related topics from August 22 to 26, 2024. Several questions explore chronic absenteeism among students – a topic garnering much media attention this year – and the potential impact classroom issues like bullying are having on empty seats.

  • 10% of teens report fear of safety or bullying as contributing to absences in the prior school year.
  • 51% of teens say more efforts to reduce bullying would help bring frequently absent students back to class.
  • Only 33% of teens feel their school is doing a good job handling bullying, a decline of four points since 2022.

In a separate EdChoice/Morning Consult survey conducted in June, parents reported that bullying is the primary reason their children changed schools. A minority of parents (44%) report schools are doing a good job addressing bullying, an 11-point gap in that reported by teens. Of the school safety issues explored (guns, violent behaviors, mental health, and bullying), parents say schools are doing the poorest job addressing bullying. As with teens, the number of parents who feel schools are doing a good job addressing bullying has also declined by four points since 2022.

“National Bullying Prevention Month serves as an important reminder for us all. It’s essential and necessary that schools first ensure safety – and freedom from fear and bullying – to allow for student learning and growth,” said Paul DiPerna, Vice President of Research and Innovation at EdChoice. “When only one in three teens feels their school is effectively combating bullying, it’s clear that the time for leadership and action is now. Every student deserves access to an environment where they can learn, thrive, and feel secure.”

Read the full reports and crosstabs on the teen and parent surveys here.

Vice President of Communications

Chantal Fennell

Vice President of Communications

Chantal is the Vice President of Communications at EdChoice, where she directs the organization’s communications efforts, and manages its brand and public relations. Prior to joining the EdChoice team, Chantal served as the Director of Policy Advancement at the State Policy Network, where she worked with state-based organizations to advance policy reforms. Before that, Chantal worked as the communications manager at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Michigan, and as the Nevada Policy Research Institute’s communications director. Prior to beginning her career in the policy advocacy movement, Chantal was a journalist in California, where she received awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for investigative reporting, economic reporting, and features writing. During her time as a reporter, Chantal authored an exposé that resulted in the creation of one of the nation’s first-ever curriculum for high school students with high-functioning autism. Chantal was born and raised in Southern California, earned a Bachelors in Government from the University of Redlands and a Masters Political Science from the University of Nebraska.

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