Newly released data from the Department of Education indicates that bullying and cyberbullying is at a record low—good news, except for the fact that "female students are still victimized at higher rates," according to U.S. News.

"[In] 2013, the percentage of students ages 12-18 who reported being bullied dropped to 21.5 percent. That's down from 27.8 percent in 2011, and a high of 31.7 percent in 2007. The percentage of students who reported being cyberbullied also fell to 6.9 percent in 2013, down from 9 percent in 2011," the article said.

Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, believes the reported downtrend in bullying and cyberbullying has helped to make safer schools and therefore more productive learning environments for students, but said that more can always be done to address the issue, though he gave no specifics.

"'Even though we've come a long way over the past few years in educating the public about the health and educational impacts that bullying can have on students, we still have more work to do to ensure the safety of our nation's children,'" he said in a statement, according to U.S. News.

In addition to revealing decreased reported bullying, the data also revealed that females reported more instances of bullying and cyberbullying than males, a consistent trend that shows no signs of reversal.

"23.7 percent of female students said they had been bullied in 2013, and 8.6 percent said they had been cyberbullied. By comparison, 19.5 percent and 5.2 percent of male students in 2013 said they had been bullied and cyberbullied, respectively," the article said of the report.

The report also looked into determining how bullying affects student behavior. Unsurprisingly, students who reported to be victims of bullying- specifically cyberbullying- were "more likely to skip school, to avoid school activities, to avoid specific places at school and to carry a weapon to school."

Read the full article here and comment below.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

05/18/2015