A new analysis from the personal finance website WalletHub compares bullying trends in 45 states and the District of Columbia to reveal fresh information before the new school year. Company experts compared bullying prevalence, bullying impact and treatment and anti-bullying laws using 17 different metrics to reveal where students are more likely to be bullied.

Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington were excluded from the analysis due to data limitations, WalletHub said.

Massachusetts has come out on top in yet another WalletHub study. Earlier this month, a WalletHub report determined that Massachusetts has the best school system compared to all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Specifically, Massachusetts was found to have safer schools and higher test scores on both college entrance exams and reading and math assessments.

This time, students in Massachusetts were found to be less likely to experience bullying.

According to the report, Massachusetts students specifically are less likely to be bullied on school property, be involved in a physical fight at school and miss school out of fear of being bullied.

Students in other states do not fare as well. According to the study, students in Michigan, Louisiana, West Virginia, and Montana are more likely to be bullied in comparison to other states.

Louisiana has the highest number of high school students who have attempted suicide, as well as ties with South Carolina for the highest percentage of high school students who miss school out of fear of being bullied.

Not coincidentally, Louisiana was found to have the most unsafe schools on WalletHub’s earlier ranking of states’ school systems.

In Michigan, West Virginia and Nebraska,  students are more likely to be bullied both in-school and online when compared to other states.

WalletHub asked a team of experts how states can get bullying under control in their schools.

Many experts agreed that in order to be successful, states need to identify at-risk students and abandon one-size-fits-all intervention programs.

”[P]rograms need to consider that U.S. schools are racially and ethnically diverse, and children of various backgrounds or those who are perceived to be different (e.g. gay and lesbian children) are at a heightened risk of bullying,” said Jun Sung Hong, Assistant Professor of Social Work at Wayne State University.

Read the full report here.

Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

8/16/2016