Prevalence of bullying behaviors among elementary and secondary school students in a city in North China

Objective To find out the prevalence and development of bullying behaviors among elementary and secondary school students in a city in North China and to provide evidence for the comprehensive intervention.Methods A randomly selected cross-sectional survey was conducted among 4 008 students(male,1 804;female,2 204) from grade 4 to 12 in the city.And a selfreport anonymous questionnaire was conducted by students themselves.Chi square test was used to analyze the prevalence of bullying behaviors among students of different genders,grades,school types and family types.Results 12.9% of students were reported to be involved in bullying,which was 17.6% for male students and 9.1% for female students (x2=63.038,P<0.01).About 6.5% were reported to bully others,10.4% reported of being bullied.The reporting rate of bullying showed an upward trend with the increase of age,which reached the peak in junior middle students and then decreased(x2 =14.023,P<0.01).Verbal bullying was the most common bullying behavior.Vocational high school students were reported to witness more cyberbullying than those in regular schools and key schools(x2 =12.003,7.519,P<0.01).Single parent / recombinant families were reported of higher rates of bullying and being bullied(x2 =9.785,14.136,P<0.01).Residential students were more likely to be beaten,locked in a dark room,threatened,forced and cyberbullied than non-residential students(x2 =11.802,5.356,11.793,4.881,P<0.01).About 1.0% of the students had 4 or more kinds of bullying behaviors,and 1.5% of them suffered from 4 or more kinds of bullying.Conclusion In order to build a safe campus and to prevent bullying behavior,we should mobilize all aspects of personal,family,school and society strength to take comprehensive intervention measures and carry out psychological counseling for high-risk groups to reduce its impact.