Prevalence of Bullying and Cyberbullying Among Urban Middle School Students

This study examined bullying and cyberbullying among 185 middle school students in 4 urban middle schools in Ohio. Nearly 60% of the sample was female, and 67% of the sample was not Caucasian. The results indicated that bullying and cyberbullying are prevalent in this population. Approximately 44% of 6th-grade students felt terrible about themselves due to bullying, and 62% of all female students believed other students had spread false rumors about them. On average, female students reported more bullying in their school than males. Caucasian students reported the highest rate of cyberbullying. Based on their findings, the authors discussed the issues surrounding bullying in urban schools and gave suggestions regarding approaches that can help students better cope with bullying.