Bullying and Peer Victimization at School: Perceptual Differences Between Students and School Staff

Although bullying and other forms of peer victimization at school are a growing concern, there has been little research examining the potential differences between student and staff perceptions of the frequency of bullying, most common location and forms of bullying, severity of the problem, social norms related to bullying, and responses to witnessing bullying. The data for this study came from a district-wide survey of student (n = 15,185) and staff (n = 1,547) perceptions of and experiences with bullying conducted in 75 elementary, 20 middle, and 14 high schools. Results indicated that staff at all school levels (elementary, middle, and high) underestimated the number of students involved in frequent…