Published October 6, 2023
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network on Bullying
Why must educators confront bullying?
While school personnel are charged with supporting the educational attainment of children and adolescents, we know that, in order for educators to accomplish their primary mission, children must feel safe, supported and ready to learn.
The United States National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) has identified bullying as one of numerous types of trauma experienced by children.
Bullying, like other traumatic experiences, undermines safety, support and readiness to learn.
How prevalent is bullying?
Per NCTSN, one in five high school students – 8.2 million are bullied every year (no statistics for elementary students were found in this resource).
How can we remediate the problem of bullying in schools?
Educators can:
- Educate themselves
- Educate their students
- Educate their students’ parents
What do we need to know and teach?
Trauma is defined by:
Bullying is behavior that can be:
Bullying is not:
Bullying begets bullying:
The trauma of being bullied can be detrimental to:
Long- and short-term effects of being bullied can include:
Youthful bystanders may also:
Bullying at school may impact:
Social-emotional skills and wellness strategies are needed by
The NCTSN was created by Congress in 2000 as part of the Children’s Health Act. According to the NCTSN website: “Our mission is to raise the standard of care and improve access to services for traumatized children, their families and communities throughout the United States.”
Other resourced from NCTSN are:
To visit the NCTSN website, click here.