Remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted many facets of students’ school experiences. Although many parents, educators, and other stakeholders have sounded the alarm on the potential negative learning and mental health outcomes, the shift to virtual schooling may have also benefited some students—particularly those who have experienced bullying by their peers.
Nationally representative data for 2020 and 2021 are not yet available, but several smaller data collections suggest that bullying significantly decreased during the pandemic. As students return to in-person schooling, school leaders must take active steps to prevent a resurgence of bullying behaviors.
Recent data from the Cyberbullying Research Center show that, in 2021, 23 percent of 13- to 17-year-old students reported experiencing bullying and 7 percent reported bullying others. These rates represent a significant decrease from 2019, when 51 percent reported experiencing bullying and 12 percent reported bullying others. Additionally, by studying trends in Google search data, a team of Boston University researchers found that searches for bullying and cyberbullying dropped approximately 30 to 40 percent in Spring 2020—the time of the transition to remote learning. Notably, as American schools have returned to in-person learning, bullying search trends are returning to their pre-pandemic levels.
