Bullying up from pre-pandemic levels; experts cite cell phones, pandemic disruptions

(Update: Adding video, comments from mental health expert Dr. Vince Callahan)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- According to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, 40% of children and teens recently interviewed said they were bullied on school campuses in the past year.

Bullying in schools and online has shot up over the past five years, according to an annual survey by the organization. Years of pandemic disruption have caused students to struggle with stress management, problem solving and peer relationships, the survey found.

Dr. Vince Callahan, founder of the Florida Institute of Neural Discovery, told us Monday, "The number of students that are being bullied, that's the victim and the number of students who are bullies, you're at 58% of kids between sixth grade and 12th grade."

Dorothy Espelage, a professor of education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said, "Kids have regressed in their social skills, ability to work with other kids, conflict management. They're a little bit more unregulated."

Of those surveyed, 18% said they have experienced cyberbullying, a 5% increase from 2019.

Callahan said, "The average screen time right now, according to research, is four to six hours a day. If you're on a screen that long, there's a really good chance you're going to get bullied."

According to the survey, the percentage of students bullied at school in 2019 was 26%.

The number of students who said they were bullied on campus this year was 14 percentage points higher than five years ago, before the COVID pandemic.

2019: 26%

2020: 25%

2021: 32%

2022: 37%

2023: 40%

Cyberbullying has increased as well in this period, at 13% in 2019 and 2020 and 18% in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Callahan believes a 14-point jump since then is tied to the pandemic.

"I think it's up because kids didn't know what to do with themselves during the lockdowns," he said. "We learned that we can live in isolation. And so I think kids are more frustrated than ever, and don't know what to do with their frustrations."

We reached out to Bend-La Pine Schools, along with the Redmond School District, to check on their policies regarding bullying.

Bend-La Pine Schools told us that when bullying issues present themselves, they address the behavior. They also believe a focus should be put on a community-wide bullying prevention strategy.

The Redmond School District told us that while they don't have any formal plans in place as of now, they do plan on providing information to families throughout the school year on responsible social media use.

Callahan concluded with, "My biggest thing is: Families, attach. Bond. Connect. Turn the devices (cellphones) off."

The number of children and teens who say they've experienced bullying in some form is 19% higher this year than 2019.

According to the same study, students are also performing worse in school than before the pandemic and facing a mental health crisis.