INDIANA – The total incidents of bullying have increased with the return to in-person instruction following the COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana schools.
Under Indiana Code (IC) 20-34-6-1, each school is required to report the number of bullying incidents involving a student of their school corporation by category. The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) shall submit a report to the Legislative Council, the Board for the Coordination of Programs Serving Vulnerable Individuals (established by IC 4-23-30.2-8), and the Criminal Justice Institute.
“Bullying” means overt, unwanted, repeated acts or gestures, including verbal or written communications or images transmitted in any manner (including digitally or electronically), physical acts committed, aggression, or any other behaviors that are committed by a student or group of students against another student with the intent to harass, ridicule, humiliate, intimidate, or harm the targeted student and create for the targeted student an objectively hostile school environment.
Bullying fosters a climate of fear and disrespect that can seriously impair the physical and psychological health of its victims and creates conditions that negatively impact learning. Bullying includes unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. The imbalance of power involves the use of physical strength or popularity to access embarrassing information to control or harm others. Bullying can occur anywhere (in school or out of school) and at any time – both during and after school hours. Bullying can include physical bullying, verbal bullying, social/relational bullying, and electronic/written communication.
Overall, there was 5,103 total reported incidents of bullying during the 2021-2022 school year. Broken down by category, this includes 1,616 physical incidents, 1,952 verbal incidents, 543 social/relational incidents, 473 electronic/written incidents, and 519 combination incidents.
Overall, total incidents of bullying have increased with the return to in-person instruction following the COVID-19 pandemic; however, numbers from the 2021-2022 school year remain lower than the last pre-COVID data collection (2018-2019). Each of the categories of bullying saw an increase in the number of reported incidents. Historically, verbal incidents of bullying have represented the greatest proportion of total incidents, and this remains true for the 2021-2022 school year.
All reported incidents of bullying were higher than the previous school year; however, the proportions of incidents remained consistent with previous years, with 2018 being an outlier when electronic/written incidents represented a majority of all bullying incidents. This data shows that bullying continues to be a concern in all schools in Indiana and should be reflected in training provided to educators on bullying prevention and definitions. Schools should continue to review their bullying policies and procedures and continue to implement them to prevent and respond to incidents of bullying.
There were 1,291 total arrests reported for the 2021-2022 school year. Of the overall student arrests, 68 percent were male. Ages of those arrested range from eight to 18. Students who were arrested off school property, but because of a school-initiated report to law enforcement, are included in this number. Of those arrested, 51 percent were white, and 26 percent were black.
The most common offenses were battery and others. Other offenses included but were not limited to, criminal mischief, illegal consumption of an alcoholic beverage, and aggravated battery.
The total number of students arrested on school corporation property totaled 1,166. Sixty-two percent of those arrested were male. The ages of those arrested on school property ranged from eight to 19. Of those arrested on school property, 49 percent were white, and 27 percent were black.
The most common offenses were battery, possession of marijuana, and others. Other arrests included, but were not limited to, attempted theft, aggravated battery, and illegal consumption of an alcoholic beverage.
The total number of contacts with law enforcement personnel from a school corporation employee that resulted in arrests of students who were not on school corporation property totaled 125. Sixty-nine percent of those arrested were male. The ages of those arrested ranged from 11 to 19. Of those arrested, 65 percent were white/non-Hispanic, and 16 percent were black/non-Hispanic.
The most common offenses were possession of marijuana, battery, disorderly conduct, intimidation, and others. Other arrests included, but were not limited to aggravated battery, attempted robbery, and criminal mischief.
Several training sessions for the 2021-2022 school year focused on a variety of bullying types. The Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy conducted training on the topics of threat assessment, sexting, cyberbullying, and harassment.
For the upcoming 2022-2023 school year, the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy will continue to provide training on bullying, bullying definitions, and cyberbullying. Additional training focused on all types of bullying should be considered for future sessions and by local school corporations.
IC 20-19-3-11.5 also requires IDOE to maintain a link on its website that provides parents and school officials with resources regarding the prevention and reporting of bullying and cyberbullying incidents. This resource can be found here.
Per IC 20-26-5-34.2, school corporations are required to provide training to employees and volunteers who have direct, ongoing contact with students concerning the school’s bullying prevention and reporting policies. This should increase the knowledge and capabilities of educators and enable staff to intervene in bullying situations earlier, reduce bullying in classrooms, and ultimately, lead to fewer incidents.
