Student Reports
of Bullying
Results From the 2001
School Crime Supplement
to the National Crime
Victimization Survey
Statistical Analysis Report
July 2005
Jill F. DeVoe
Sarah Kaffenberger
Education Statistics
Services Institute
American Institutes
for Research
Kathryn Chandler
Project Officer
National Center for
Education Statistics
U.S. Department of Education
Institute of Education Sciences
NCES 2005–310
U.S. Department of Education
Margaret Spellings
Secretary
Institute of Education Sciences
Grover J. Whitehurst
Director
National Center for Education Statistics
Grover J. Whitehurst
Acting Commissioner
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Suggested Citation
DeVoe, J. F., and Kaffenberger, S. (2005). Student Reports of Bullying: Results From the 2001 School
Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCES 2005–310). U.S. Department of
Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
For ordering information on this report, write to
U.S. Department of Education
ED Pubs
P.O. Box 1398
Jessup, MD 20794–1398
or call toll free 1–877–4ED–Pubs or order online at http://www.edpubs.org
Content Contact
Kathryn Chandler, Project Officer
(202) 502–7423
kathryn.chandler@ed.gov
iii
Acknowledgments
The School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey would not be possible
without the continued support for data collection given by the U.S. Department of Education, Office
of Safe and Drug-free Schools under the sponsorship of Bill Modzeleski.
Staff from the National Center for Education Statistics provided valuable comments and suggestions
on drafts of this report, including Jeffrey Owings, Tai Phan, Marilyn Seastrom, Marilyn Binkley, and
Carl Schmitt. In addition, Ann Ricciuti of the Institute for Education Sciences gathered and mediated comments
from two anonymous external reviewers that greatly improved this report.
The authors would like to acknowledge Mike Planty, Sally Ruddy, Amanda Miller, Margaret Noonan, and
Martin Hahn of the American Institutes for Research, Education Statistics Services Institute (ESSI), for their
comments and guidance. Finally, the authors are grateful to Elina Hartwell, also from ESSI, for the artful
production and layout of this report.

v
Executive Summary
Bullying in schools is an issue that continues to receive attention from researchers, educators, parents,
and students. Despite the common assumption that bullying is a normal part of childhood and encompasses
minor teasing and harassment (Lawrence 1998), researchers increasingly find that bullying is a problem
that can be detrimental to students’ well-being (Nansel et al. 2001, 2003; Haynie et al. 2001).
Bullying is commonly defined as being “exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the
part of one or more other students” (Olweus 1991). Olweus also suggests that bullying can be characterized
by two distinct forms of negative actions: direct and indirect bullying behaviors. Direct bullying
takes the form of overt, physical contact in which the victim is openly attacked. Indirect bullying takes
the form of social isolation and intentional exclusion from activities. Both forms of bullying, occurring
separately or together, can be harmful to students’ well-being and development.
This report examines the prevalence and nature of bullying in relation to student characteristics, school characteristics,
and victimization. In addition, the report explores other behaviors that were reported by the victim,
such as fear, avoidance behavior, weapon carrying, and academic grades. This report examines student
reports of being bullied by direct means only, bullied by indirect means only, and bullied both directly
and indirectly. Readers are alerted to the limitations of the survey design and analysis approach with regard
to causality. Conclusions about causality can not be made due to the cross-sectional, nonexperimental
design of the survey used. And, while certain characteristics discussed in this report, such as school
control, gang presence, security guards, and hallway monitors, may be related to one another, this analysis
does not control for such relationships. Therefore, no causal inferences should be made between
the variables of interest and bullying when reading these results.
As reported by public and private school students, ages 12 through 18, in the 2001 School Crime Supplement
(SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), major findings include the following:
• Fourteen percent of students reported being the victims of bullying. In 2001, 14 percent of
students ages 12 through 18 reported that they had been bullied at school in the 6 months prior
to the interview (appendix B, table 1). About 3 percent reported that they had been bullied only through
direct or physical means, almost 7 percent reported being bullied only indirectly through social
exclusion or rejection, and approximately 5 percent reported being bullied both directly and indirectly.1
• Sex differences were not detected in most types of bullying. No measurable differences were
detected between boys and girls in reports of being bullied, directly or indirectly, in the 6 months prior
to the survey (appendix B, table 1). However, differences did emerge between boys and girls who were
bullied both directly and indirectly. Specifically, boys were more likely than girls to report being the victims
of both direct and indirect bullying (5 percent of boys vs. 4 percent of girls).
1Youth ages 12 through 18 were first asked “Have you been bullied at school? That is, has anyone picked on you a lot or tried to make you
do things you did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?“ This is referred to as direct bullying. Students were also asked, “Have you felt
rejected because other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?“ This is referred to as indirect
bullying. References to “bullying“ include youth who reported they were either directly or indirectly bullied. Categories are mutually exclusive.
Directly Only, Indirectly Only, and Both Directly and Indirectly are distinct categories. Students appearing in one category do not appear in other
categories.
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
vi
• White, non-Hispanic students were more likely than Black, non-Hispanic students and Other,
non-Hispanic students to report being bullied2 (15 percent of White students vs. 12 percent
and 11 percent of Other and Black students, respectively) (appendix B, table 1). When reports of
indirect bullying only were examined, White students’ and Black students’ reports exceeded those
of Hispanic students (7 percent, 7 percent, and 4 percent, respectively). White students (5 percent)
were more likely than Black students (3 percent) to report being bullied both directly and indirectly.
• Younger students were more likely than older students to report being bullied. Students’
reports of being bullied (either directly or indirectly) decreased as grade level increased from 6th
(24 percent) to 12th grade (7 percent) (appendix B, table 1).
• Differences were not detected between public and private school students’ reports of being
bullied at school. No measurable differences were detected in public and private school students’
reports of being bullied, directly or indirectly, or in both ways (appendix B, table 2).
• Students in schools where gangs were present were more likely to report being the victims
of bullying. In 2001, students who reported the presence of street gangs at school were
more likely to report being bullied (21 percent) than those who reported no presence of street
gangs (13 percent) (appendix B, table 2).
• Fewer students reported bullying in schools with supervision by police officers, security officers,
or staff hallway monitors. In schools where a security guard or assigned police officer was
present, fewer students (13 percent) reported being bullied compared to students in schools with
no such supervision (16 percent) (appendix B, table 2). Fewer students in schools with staff hallway
monitors reported being bullied than did students in schools without such hallway supervision (14 vs.
18 percent).
• Victims of bullying were more likely to experience a criminal victimization at school.
Bullied students were more likely to experience any type of victimization (13 percent), a serious violent
victimization (2 percent), a violent victimization (7 percent), or a property victimization (8 percent)
at school when compared to those students who were not bullied (4 percent, 0.3 percent,
1 percent, and 4 percent, respectively) (appendix B, table 3).3 Students who reported only direct
bullying were more likely to be violently victimized than students who reported only indirect bullying
(11 percent vs. 3 percent).
• Victims of bullying were more afraid of being attacked at school and elsewhere. Bullied students
were more likely to report being fearful of attack at school at least some of the time
(18 percent), on the way to and from school (11 percent), and away from school (12 percent) than were
students who were not bullied (3 percent, 2 percent, and 3 percent, respectively) (appendix B, table 4).
• Victims of bullying were more likely to avoid certain areas of the school and certain activities
out of fear of an attack. Specifically, bullied students were more likely than nonbullied students to
report the following avoidance behaviors: avoiding the shortest route to school (6 percent of bullied
students vs. 2 percent of nonbullied students); the entrance to the school (4 percent vs. 1 percent); hallways
or stairs (7 percent vs. 1 percent); and the school cafeteria (6 percent vs. 1 percent) (appendix
B, table 5). Bullied students were also more likely than nonbullied students to avoid restrooms
(7 percent vs. 2 percent), the parking lot (5 percent vs. 1 percent), and other places inside the school
building (5 percent vs. 1 percent) or other places on school grounds (6 percent vs. 1 percent).
2For ease of presentation, White, non-Hispanic, Black, non-Hispanic, and Other, non-Hispanic race/ethnicities will be described as White, Black,
and Other.
3Serious violent crimes include rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes include serious violent crimes and simple
assault. Any crimes include violent crimes and theft.
vii
• Victims of bullying were more likely to report that they carried weapons to school and were
engaged in physical fights. Specifically, students who were bullied were more likely to report
that they carried a weapon to school for protection (4 percent), as compared to students who were
not bullied (1 percent) (appendix B, table 6). Bullied students were also more likely to report being
involved in a physical fight (15 percent), compared to nonbullied students (4 percent).
• Of those students who reported lower grades, victims of bullying were more likely to report
receiving D's and F's than their nonbullied counterparts. Bullied students were more likely to
report receiving lower academic grades, or mostly D's and F's, than their nonbullied peers
(8 percent vs. 3 percent) (appendix B, table 7). Victims of both forms of bullying were more likely
to report mostly D's and F's (12 percent) than those bullied either directly only or indirectly only
(7 percent and 6 percent).
2001 SCHOOL CRIME SUPPLEMENT

ix
Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iii
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .x
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .x
List of Standard Error Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Prevalence of Bullying in Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Characteristics of Bullied Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Student Reports of School Characteristics Where Bullying Occurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Bullying and Victimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Bullying and Victim Outcomes/Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Summary and Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Appendix A: Technical Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Appendix B: Estimate Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Appendix C: Standard Error Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Appendix D: 2001 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey
Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
x
List of Figures
Figure 1. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied, bullied directly
only, bullied indirectly only, and bullied in both ways: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Figure 2. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied directly and/or
indirectly at school during the previous 6 months, by grade level: 2001 . . . . . . . . . .6
Figure 3. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied directly and/or
indirectly at school during the previous 6 months, by security presence and hallway
supervision: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Figure 4. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being victimized at school
during the previous 6 months, by reports of being bullied directly only, bullied
indirectly only, or being bullied directly or indirectly at school: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Figure 5. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported skipping school, class, or
extra-curricular activities during the previous 6 months, by reports of being
bullied directly only, bullied indirectly only, or being bullied directly and indirectly
at school: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Figure 6. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported carrying a weapon for protection
or being involved in a physical fight at school during the previous 6 months, by
reports of being bullied directly only, indirectly only, or being bullied directly and
indirectly at school: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Figure 7. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported receiving different academic
grades during the school year, by reports of being bullied directly only, indirectly
only, or being bullied directly and indirectly at school: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
List of Tables
Table 1. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied directly and/or
indirectly at school during the previous 6 months, by selected student
characteristics: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Table 2. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied directly and/or
indirectly at school during the previous 6 months, by selected school
characteristics: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Table 3. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being victimized at school
during the previous 6 months, by reports of being bullied directly and/or indirectly
at school: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Table 4. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported fearing attack during the previous
6 months at school, on the way to and from school, and away from school,
by reports of being bullied directly and/or indirectly at school: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
xi
Table 5. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported avoiding certain areas of school
and skipping school, class, or extra-curricular activities during the previous
6 months, by reports of being bullied directly and/or indirectly at school: 2001 . . . . .25
Table 6. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported carrying a weapon for protection
or being involved in a physical fight at school during the previous 6 months, by
reports of being bullied directly and/or indirectly at school: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Table 7. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported receiving different academic
grades during the school year, by reports of being bullied directly and/or indirectly
at school: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
List of Standard Error Tables
Table S1. Standard errors for Table 1. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being
bullied directly and/or indirectly at school during the previous 6 months,
by selected student characteristics: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Table S2. Standard errors for Table 2. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported
being bullied directly and/or indirectly at school during the previous 6 months,
by selected school characteristics: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Table S3. Standard errors for Table 3. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported
being victimized at school during the previous 6 months, by reports of being
bullied directly and/or indirectly at school: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Table S4. Standard errors for Table 4. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported
fearing attack during the previous 6 months at school, on the way to and from
school, and away from school, by reports of being bullied directly and/or indirectly
at school: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Table S5. Standard errors for Table 5. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported
avoiding certain areas of school and skipping school, class, or extra-curricular
activities during the previous 6 months, by reports of being bullied directly and/or
indirectly at school: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Table S6. Standard errors for Table 6. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported
carrying a weapon for protection or being involved in a physical fight at school
during the previous 6 months, by reports of being bullied directly and/or indirectly
at school: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Table S7. Standard errors for Table 7. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported
receiving different academic grades during the school year, by reports of being
bullied directly and/or indirectly at school: 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
2001 SCHOOL CRIME SUPPLEMENT

1
Introduction
Students are victims of a spectrum of problem behaviors at school, ranging from minor disciplinary
problems to criminal victimization (DeVoe et al. 2004). Bullying is one form of these problem behaviors
that concerns students, educators, and parents because of its potential detriment to the students’
well-being (Nansel et al. 2001, 2003; Haynie et al. 2001).
Defining bullying is a difficult task; however, most research agrees that bullying comprises physical,
verbal, and psychological behaviors such as hitting, teasing, taunting, and manipulating social relationships
(Banks 1997; Ericson 2001). The investigation of bullying is further complicated by the complex
dynamics of bullying scenarios and the developmental context for social development in which bullying
plays a role. Further, aggression among youth often serves varied purposes for children at different
stages of development.
Hawkins, Pepler, and Craig (2001) found that peers were present in 88 percent of bullying episodes. Thus,
bullying frequently involves the support of peers within the school community and is often not an isolated
event between two individuals. In addition, aggressive behavior, such as bullying, is expressed
differently over time and may change in purpose, as children transition from middle to secondary school.
As Cairns et al. (1989) discuss, patterns of, and motivation for aggression change over the course of childhood
and cannot be examined independently of the developmental context in which aggression occurs.
Cillessen and Mayeaux (2004) found that physical and relational aggression, peer approval, and popularity
were intricately linked, but that the relationships between these variables vary with age, gender,
and by type of aggression. While resolution to these definitional, contextual, and developmental complexities
are unable to be addressed in the current investigation, this report provides a broad summary of
bullying reported by student victims in 2001.
Olweus (1993) has produced an instructive definition of bullying that includes three essential elements
of bullying behavior: (1) the behavior is aggressive and negative; (2) the behavior is carried out repeatedly;
and (3) the behavior occurs in a relationship where there is an imbalance of power between the
parties involved. This tripartite definition of bullying is now used by many researchers (e.g., Smith et
al. 2002). In a further refinement of the variety of behaviors that encompass bullying, Olweus identifies
two subtypes of bullying that are used as the basis of this report. The first subtype is direct, physical
aggression, and the second is indirect behavior such as social exclusion or rejection. Direct bullying
often takes the form of overt, physical contact in which the victim is openly attacked. Indirect bullying
often takes the form of social isolation and intentional exclusion from activities. Research suggests
that indirect forms of bullying are more often employed by girls than boys (Ericson 2001; Banks 1997;
Carney and Merrell 2001; Crick and Grotpeter 1995). Researchers of aggression stress the importance
of the distinction between its physical and social forms. Underwood, Galen, and Paquette (2001)
more recently coined the term “social aggression“ to encompass the less physical and indirect forms
of hurtful behavior. These authors discourage the use of the term “indirect” because the term implies
that the behavior does not involve direct or overt interaction with the victim. They also favor the term
“social aggression” as it more aptly targets the purpose of the behavior as harmful. Finally, they
believe that this type of aggression can be conveyed through nonverbal means, such as social exclusion
and the term “social aggression” is more accurate.
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
2
For the purposes of this report, the term “indirect“ will be retained to show the dichotomy of behaviors
being discussed and to maintain the conceptualization proposed by Olweus, recognizing that
more current conceptualizations exist in the literature. The term “indirect bullying” includes both verbal
and nonverbal behaviors, and does not imply that the victim was unaware of the activity.
This Statistical Analysis Report provides estimates of bullying at school as reported by students ages 12 through
18 who were enrolled in grades 6 through 12 in the 6 months prior to survey administration. School-related
data are drawn from the 2001 School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization
Survey (NCVS). Data about characteristics of the individual (including sex, race/ethnicity, household
income, and urbanicity) and victimization are drawn from NCVS variables appended to the SCS data.
The NCVS is the nation’s primary source of information on crime victimization and the victims of
crime. The NCVS collects detailed information on the frequency and nature of crimes experienced by
Americans and their households each year. The survey measures both crimes reported and not
reported to police. The NCVS collects data on all members of selected households and surveys all who
are age 12 and above, for a total of about 79,000 people, every 6 months.
The SCS is a supplement to the NCVS that was created to collect additional information about schoolrelated
victimization on a national level. It is administered for a 6-month period from January through June
in all NCVS households. The SCS is a nationally representative sample of students ages 12 through 18 and
has been administered in 1989, 1995, 1999, 2001, and 2003, with plans for collection in 2005. This report
focuses on the 2001 collection. Respondents eligible for the supplement were those in the specified
age range who attended school during the 6 months prior to the interview and were enrolled in grades 6
through 12. A total of 8,374 students participated in the 2001 SCS.
The 2001 SCS questionnaire measures respondents’ perceptions of whether they have been bullied directly
and/or indirectly, and specifies the aggressive nature of the behavior and whether or not the behavior
happens “often” or “a lot.” Specifically, youth were first asked “Have you been bullied at school?
That is, has anyone picked on you a lot or tried to make you do things you did not want to do (e.g.,
give them money)?” This is referred to as direct bullying. In a separate question, students were also asked
if they have often felt rejected by other students at school: “Have you felt rejected because other students
have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?” This type of bullying
is referred to as indirect bullying.
This report focuses not only on the prevalence of bullying, but also on those subsets of students who
reported being the victims of direct bullying, indirect bullying, and both direct and indirect bullying.
Different types of bullying may affect different groups of students, occur in different types of schools, or
affect student behavior in different ways. These distinctions allow readers to differentiate between
students who were either physically (directly) or socially (indirectly) bullied, and also to identify those students
who were bullied both physically and socially.4 Additional analysis describes the characteristics
of students affected by these types of behavior and the characteristics of schools in which these
behaviors occur. Because of prior research that suggests victims of bullying may resort to aggressive behaviors
in response to being bullied (Nansel et al. 2003), the extent to which reports of bullying are
4Students who reported being the victims of both forms of bullying were not necessarily bullied more than students who reported either direct
or indirect bullying. Rather, these students simply reported that they were subject to a wider variety of bullying behaviors including both direct
and indirect means.
3
related to victim behaviors such as weapon carrying, physical fights, fear, and avoidance is explored.
Finally, for educators, the academic success of students is of paramount importance. For this reason, selfreported
academic performance of bullied students is also examined.
Readers should note that estimates of bullying presented in this report are derived from victims' selfreports
of bullying experiences. Limitations inherent to victimization surveys such as the SCS might impact
estimates of bullying (Cantor and Lynch 2000). First, the SCS includes unbounded interviews, or interviews
that include victimizations that exceed the 6-month reference period asked of SCS respondents.
This may artificially increase reports of victimization since respondents may recall events outside of the
given reference period. Second, the SCS does not use a classification scheme for determining bullying
events. That is, the larger NCVS uses sets of characteristics to classify events as criminal whereas the SCS
often relies on the respondent to self-determine a condition. This allows for the victim to use his own
interpretation or conceptions to define a situation, when the same situation may not have been
labeled bullying by a bystander or the offender. Third, victim surveys emphasize crime events as incidents
at one point in time. Reality tells us that victims can often live in a state of victimization where they
are threatened or victimized regularly. While the NCVS does allow for these series to be flagged for criminal
victimizations, reports of bullying behaviors are not collected in this way.
Additional caution is in order when examining bullying as well as the other variables used in this
report. Because all variables of interest on the SCS are self-reported, information about the respondent
and his school may be inaccurate due to error in recall, falsification, or exaggeration. For example,
a student either may not be forthright or artificially inflate his self-reported academic grades. In addition,
the respondent may forget a bullying event entirely or recall the characteristics of the event inaccurately.
This would lead to an underestimation of victimization. There is no independent or external verification
of any of the SCS variables used in this report.
Finally, readers are alerted to the limitations of the survey design and analysis approach with regard to
causality. Conclusions about causality can not be made due to the cross-sectional, non-experimental
design of the SCS. And, while certain characteristics discussed in this report, such as school control, gang
presence, security guards and hallway monitors, may be related to one another, this analysis does not
control for such relationships. Therefore, no causal inferences should be made between the variables
of interest and bullying when reading these results.
Prevalence
of Bullying in Schools
In 2001, approximately 14 percent of students ages 12 through 18 were victims of bullying at school
in the 6 months prior to the survey administration (figure 1 and appendix B, table 1). For this report,
the total percentage of students bullied refers to those students who were either directly or indirectly
bullied. Three percent reported only direct bullying—that someone had picked on them a lot or tried
to make them do something they did not want to do. Seven percent of students reported only
indirect bullying—that other students had rejected them or excluded them from activities. Five percent
reported being bullied both directly and indirectly.
2001 SCHOOL CRIME SUPPLEMENT
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
4
Characteristics
of Bullied Students
When looking at the direct and indirect forms of bullying, prior research suggests, first, that boys
typically engage in more direct bullying methods than girls and are more often the victims of this type of
bullying (Nansel et al. 2001; Olweus 1997). Second, research suggests indirect bullying, such as social
exclusion and rejection, is the type of bullying used more frequently by girls than boys (Banks 1997;
Olweus 1997, 1999). In this analysis of the 2001 SCS, no measurable differences were detected between
boys and girls in their reports of direct or indirect bullying only, but when looking at students who
were bullied both directly and indirectly, measurable differences did emerge (appendix B, table 1). In
the 2001 SCS, boys were more likely than girls to report being both directly and indirectly bullied
(5 percent of boys vs. 4 percent of girls) (appendix B, table 1).
White, non-Hispanic students were more likely than Other, non-Hispanic students and Black, non-Hispanic
students to report being bullied (15 percent of White, non-Hispanic students vs. 11 percent and
12 percent of Other, non-Hispanic and Black, non-Hispanic students, respectively) (appendix B, table 1).5
When indirect bullying behavior was examined, White and Black students’ reports (7 percent each) were
higher than those of Hispanic students’ (4 percent). Those students who were bullied both directly
and indirectly were more likely to be White than Black (5 percent vs. 3 percent).6 No measurable -
5For the remainder of this report, White, non-Hispanic; Black, non-Hispanic; and Other, non-Hispanic race/ethnicities are described as
White, Black, and Other, respectively, for ease of presentation.
6While estimates among other race/ethnicity categories may appear to be different, these differences may not be statistically significant
due to large standard errors. Please refer to Appendix A for further discussion about standard errors and the design of the survey.
Total Bullied (14%)
Bullied
Directly
Only
3%
Bullied
Indirectly
Only
7%
Bullied Both
Directly and
Indirectly
5%
Total Bullied Directly (8%) Total Bullied Indirectly (11%)
Figure 1. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied, bullied directly only,
bullied indirectly only, and bullied in both ways: 2001
NOTE: “At school” was defined as in the school building, on school property, on a school bus, or going to and from school.Youth ages 12
through 18 were first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things
they did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?“ This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because
other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?“This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total includes
youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students ages 12–18 is 24,315,000. Detail may not sum to total
because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization
Survey, 2001.
racial/ethnic differences in bullying were detected among victims of only direct bullying behavior.
While the research on race/ethnicity and bullying is scant, the findings by Nansel et al. (2001) found that
Black youth were less likely than their White and Hispanic peers to report being bullied.
As the grade levels of students in the 2001 SCS increased, from 6th through 12th grades, the total
percentage of students reporting that they were bullied decreased (figure 2 and appendix B, table 1).
Specifically, 24 percent of 6th-graders reported being bullied at school, compared to 7 percent of
12th-graders. Sixth-grade students were more likely than 12th-grade students to report both direct (5
percent vs. 1 percent) and indirect (10 percent vs. 5 percent) bullying. This finding is consistent with
previous research on bullying and grade level and is explained in terms of establishing social hierarchies.
Specifically, prior researchers suggest that bullying may be used as a way to establish dominance in
social structures and that the transition to middle school (which traditionally occurs around the 6th grade)
should be accompanied by an increase in bullying and then follow an age-related decline as dominance
hierarchies are solidified (Pellegrini and Long 2002; Pellegrini and Bartini 2001). Another possible
reason for this finding comes from Olweus’ (1993) research, which suggests that younger and weaker
students are exposed more frequently to bullying and that a considerable part of bullying behavior is carried
out by older students against these younger victims.
Olweus (1978, 1980) found no relationship between socioeconomic status of the family and being
the victim of bullying and suggests that there are similar proportions of bullies and victims across all socioeconomic
levels. Interestingly, Olweus attributes this finding to the relative homogeneity in the Scandinavian
countries in which his studies were conducted. He speculates that in other countries, such as the
United States, stronger associations between bullying and socioeconomic indicators, such as income,
would be found. However, no pattern was detected between student reports of bullying and student
household income in the 2001 SCS, a nationally representative U.S. data set (appendix B, table 1).
Likewise, no measurable differences were detected in the total percentage of students who reported
bullying by students’ residential urbanicity (appendix B, table 1). Nansel and her colleagues (2001) found
no measurable differences among rural, suburban, and urban students’ reports of bullying in their
investigation as well.
5
2001 SCHOOL CRIME SUPPLEMENT
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
6
Student Reports
of School Characteristics Where Bullying Occurs7
About 14 percent of students in both public schools and private schools reported being bullied
(appendix B, table 2). Three percent of public and private school students reported direct bullying only,
and 7 percent of public and private school students reported indirect bullying only.
In 2001, students who reported the presence of street gangs at school were more likely to report
being bullied in any way (21 percent) than those who reported that street gangs were not present
(13 percent) (appendix B, table 2). Similarly, those who reported street gangs at school were more
likely to report direct bullying only (5 percent), indirect bullying only (8 percent), and both direct and indirect
bullying (8 percent) than those students who did not report a street gang presence (3 percent,
6 percent, and 4 percent, respectively).
Schools take various measures to guard against criminal victimization and disciplinary problems. Increasing
supervision of students is one avenue toward decreasing bullying in schools (Olweus 1993). Supervision,
such as the employment of security personnel and the use of hallway monitors may deter bullies from
attacking or threatening other students, calling them names, or making fun of them. In 2001, fewer
students reported being bullied in schools with a security guard or an assigned police officer (13 percent),
7These data on school characteristics do not represent a sample of schools, rather they represent a sample of students. Thus, school characteristics
are discussed in terms of student reports of school characteristics in this section.
Figure 2. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied directly and/or
indirectly at school during the previous 6 months, by grade level: 2001
NOTE: “At school” was defined as in the school building, on school property, on a school bus, or going to and from school. Youth ages 12
through 18 were first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things
they did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?” This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because
other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?” This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied
includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students ages 12–18 is 24,315,000.
1Categories are mutually exclusive. Directly Only, Indirectly Only and Both Directly and Indirectly are distinct categories. Students appearing
in one category do not appear in other categories.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization
Survey, 2001.
6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
Total Bullied Both Directly
and Indirectly1
Directly Only1 Indirectly Only1
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Percent
Bullied
24
22
16
14
10 10
7
9 8
5 4
2 3
1
5 5 4 5
3
1 1
10 9
7
5 6 5 5
7
1Categories are mutually exclusive.
NOTE: “At school” was defined as in the school building, on school property, on a school bus, or going to and from school. Youth ages 12
through 18 were first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things
they did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?” This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because
other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?” This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied
includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students ages 12–18 is 24,315,000.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization
Survey, 2001.
Security officers or police present Security not present Hallway supervision by staff No hallway supervision by staff
Total Bullied Both Directly
and Indirectly1
Directly Only1 Indirectly Only1
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Percent
Bullied
13
16
14
18
4
6
4
6
3 3 3 4
6 7 6
9
Figure 3. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied directly and/or
indirectly at school during the previous 6 months, by security presence and hallway
supervision: 2001
compared to students in schools with no such supervision (16 percent) (figure 3 and table 2). No measurable
differences were detected (between schools with and without security officers) for either direct bullying
or indirect bullying considered separately. More students were victims of both types of bullying in
schools with security personnel (6 percent) than in schools without security guards or assigned police officers
(4 percent).
2001 SCHOOL CRIME SUPPLEMENT
Another common practice of supervision is hallway monitoring by school staff. Hall monitoring by school
staff was associated with fewer bullied students (14 percent of students were bullied in schools with staff
hallway monitors, vs. 18 percent of students being bullied in schools without such monitors).
However, no measurable differences were detected in students’ reports of direct bullying in schools with
and without hallway supervision (figure 3 and appendix B, table 2). Students were less likely to report
being indirectly bullied only in schools with hallway supervision (6 percent) than in schools without
such supervision (9 percent). No measurable differences were detected in both direct and indirect bullying
in schools with and without hallway supervision. Readers should note that while school characteristics
such as school control, gang presence, security guards, and hallway monitors may be related
to one another, the analysis does not control for such relationships. These data cannot address the question
of whether having security guards or hallway monitors had an impact on bullying. Therefore, no
causal inferences should be made when reading these results.
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
8
Bullying
and Victimization
Elliott (1994) suggests that bullied students are at higher risk for criminal victimization at school,
especially violent victimization. The purpose of this section is to examine student reports of bullying
and their reports of serious violent, violent, and property victimization. Prior to presenting the results,
some explanation of the differences between these two constructs, bullying and criminal victimization,
and how they are collected is necessary.
Information on criminal victimization is collected in the main NCVS, to which the SCS is a supplement.
Victimization is collected using a classification scheme in which the respondent identifies the characteristics
of an event and those characteristics are used to classify the event as criminal. (For more information
on the construction of the NCVS victimization variables used in this report, see the Glossary in
appendix A). Readers may suspect that students who report direct bullying, or more overt physical attacks,
may be reporting many of the same instances in their reports of criminal victimization. However, these
two concepts are addressed quite differently during data collection for the SCS and therefore are reported
as distinct events in this report.
As stated, the larger NCVS uses sets of characteristics to classify events as criminal. This was the
approach taken for determining the serious violent, violent, and property victimizations reported here.
In contrast, the SCS relies on the respondent to self-determine if they are bullied. Specifically, respondents
are asked if they are bullied and allowed to determine if they fall into the bullying category
based on the definition provided, rather than asked about characteristics of the situation and allowing
the analyst to determine if the respondent has been bullied. This allows for the victim to use his or her
own interpretation to define a situation, when the same situation may not have been labeled bullying by
a bystander or the offender.
Results show, in 2001, 6 percent of all students ages 12 through 18 reported any form of criminal
victimization at school (appendix B, table 3).8 Serious violent victimization at school (including rape, sexual
assault, robbery, and aggravated assault), was reported by less than 1 percent of students, and
violent victimization at school (which includes those offenses in the serious violent category plus simple
assaults) was reported by 2 percent of all students. Property victimization, which includes theft of a student’s
property at school, was reported by 4 percent of students (figure 4 and appendix B, table 3).
Students who report being bullied at school were at least twice as likely to report being the victims of
crime at school compared to nonbullied students. When focusing on the total sample of students
who reported being bullied at school (14 percent of the entire sample) (see appendix B, table 1), these
students were more likely to experience any victimization, a serious violent victimization, a violent victimization,
or a property victimization at school when compared to those students who were not bullied (figure
4 and appendix B, table 3). Specifically, 13 percent of bullied students reported any victimization
at school compared to 4 percent of nonbullied students. About 2 percent of bullied students reported
a serious violent victimization, 7 percent reported a violent victimization, and 8 percent reported a -
property theft; 0.3 percent of nonbullied students reported a serious violent victimization, 1 percent
reported a violent victimization, and 4 percent reported a property theft.
8Any victimization includes those students who reported being the victim of a violent crime or a property crime. Students who reported being
the victim of both a property and a violent crime are counted once in the “any“ category.
9
2001 SCHOOL CRIME SUPPLEMENT
When looking at those students who were directly and/or indirectly bullied, interesting results
emerge. First, the findings show that 18 percent of directly, or physically bullied students reported
any victimization, and 7 percent of indirectly bullied students reported any victimization (figure 4 and
appendix B, table 3). About 17 percent of students who reported both direct and indirect bullying
reported any victimization. Second, the findings show that students who reported both types of bullying
were more likely than students who reported only direct or indirect bullying to report being
seriously violently victimized. About 1 percent of only directly bullied students and 0.3 percent of
only indirectly bullied students reported a serious violent victimization, compared to larger percentage
(4 percent) of students reporting both types of bullying. Third, directly bullied students were
more likely than indirectly bullied students to be violently victimized (11 percent vs. 3 percent).
Eleven percent of students reporting both forms of bullying also reported a violent victimization, a finding
that is consistent with previous literature (Elliott 1994). Finally, victims of direct bullying only (9
percent) or both forms of bullying (10 percent) were more likely than those who reported only indirect
bullying (5 percent) to be the victims of property victimization.
Figure 4. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being victimized at school during the
previous 6 months, by reports of being bullied directly only, bullied indirectly only, or
being bullied directly or indirectly at school: 2001
Not Bullied Total Bullied Both Directly and Indirectly1 Directly Only1 Indirectly Only1
Any Serious Violent2 Violent Property
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Percent
Victimization
4
13
17 18
7
#
2
4
1 # 1
7
11 11
3 4
8
10 9
5
1Categories are mutually exclusive.
2Serious violent crimes are also included in violent crimes.
#Rounds to zero.
NOTE: Serious violent crimes include rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes include serious violent crimes
and simple assault.Any crimes include violent crimes and theft. “At school” includes inside the school building, on school property, or on
the way to or from school. Youth ages 12 through 18 were first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them
a lot or tried to make them do things they did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?” This is referred to as direct bullying. They were
also asked, “Have you felt rejected because other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?” This
is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students
ages 12–18 is 24,315,000.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization
Survey, 2001.
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
10
Bullying
and Victim Outcomes/Behaviors
Psychological research suggests that passive victims of bullying are anxious and insecure (Olweus 1999;
Wilton, Craig, and Pepler 2000; and Dodge et al. 1990). Passive victims often react to provocation by crying,
withdrawing, or becoming quiet. This signals that they will not react or retaliate if they are
attacked or insulted. Another type of victim, the “provocative” victim, is characterized by both anxious
and aggressive reaction patterns (Olweus 1999). Provocative victims are likely to counter attack and
have difficulty relating emotionally, whereas passive victims often avoid and acquiesce to their attackers
(Wilton, Craig, and Pepler 2000). In fact, some research has shown that socially “rejected” boys are more
likely to follow an act of aggression with another act of aggression than are boys who did not experience
social rejection (Dodge et al. 1990). The purpose of this section is to investigate whether students
who report only direct bullying respond with different defensive mechanisms or reactive behaviors than
students who are bullied only indirectly or those who are bullied in both ways. While the SCS is a crosssectional
survey that does not allow the reader to know which event occurred first, the data do show that
students who are victims of different types of bullying at school more often experience or engage in a variety
of behaviors different from those of students not bullied. These behaviors include fear of attack; avoidance
behaviors such as truancy from school; skipping classes, or not participating in extra-curricular activities;
weapon carrying; involvement in physical fights; and varied academic performance. These data cannot
address the question of whether bullying has an impact on these behaviors and outcomes,
whether these behaviors elicit bullying from others, or whether some other combination of factors
influences both bullying and these other behaviors
Fear is one by-product of threats and violence, and those students who are bullied at school may be afraid
to attend school (Ericson 2001; Berthhold and Hoover 2000). The 2001 SCS findings are consistent with
this research. Bullied students were more likely than nonbullied students to report being “sometimes
or most of the time” afraid of an attack at school (18 percent vs. 3 percent), on the way to and from
school (11 percent vs. 2 percent), and away from school (12 percent vs. 3 percent) (appendix B, table
4). Bullied students who were targeted both directly and indirectly were the most likely group of bullied
students to sometimes or most of the time be afraid of an attack at school compared students
who were bullied only directly and only indirectly (31 percent, 14 percent and 11 percent, respectively).
Similar results were found for fear on the way to and from school, with 17 percent of students
who were bullied both directly and indirectly reporting fear sometimes or most of the time, compared to
10 percent of students who were bullied only directly and 7 percent who were bullied only indirectly.
As discussed above, bullying can coincide with fear. Student reaction to this fear may lead to avoidance
behavior or truancy. Specifically, students may act upon their feelings of fear and actually start avoiding
places in school or be truant from school, classes, or extracurricular activities. Bullied students
were more likely than nonbullied students to report avoidance behavior, such as avoiding the shortest
route to school (6 percent of bullied students vs. 2 percent of nonbullied students), the entrance to
the school (4 percent vs. 1 percent), hallways or stairs (7 percent vs. 1 percent), and the school cafeteria
(6 percent vs. 1 percent) (appendix B, table 5). They were also more likely than nonbullied students to
avoid restrooms (7 percent vs. 2 percent), the parking lot (5 percent vs. 1 percent), and other places inside
the school building (5 percent vs. 1 percent) or on school grounds (6 percent vs. 1 percent). The SCS data
also show that victims of both forms of bullying were more likely than victims of only direct and indirect
bullying to avoid the shortest route to school (9 percent vs. 3 and 5 percent, respectively), the entrance
to the school (7 percent vs. 3 and 2 percent), the school cafeteria (10 percent vs. 5 and 3 percent),
and school restrooms (10 percent vs. 6 and 5 percent).
11
2001 SCHOOL CRIME SUPPLEMENT
1Categories are mutually exclusive.
#Rounds to zero.
NOTE: “At school” was defined as in the school building, on school property, on a school bus, or going to and from school. Youth ages 12
through 18 were first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things
they did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?” This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because
other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?” This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied
includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students ages 12–18 is 24,315,000.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization
Survey, 2001.
Not Bullied Total Bullied Both Directly and Indirectly1 Directly Only1 Indirectly Only1
Skipped school Skipped class Skipped extra-curricular activities
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Percent
Skipped school, class, or extra-curriculars
1
4
7
4
1 #
3
7
3
1 1
4
6
4
2
Figure 5. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported skipping school, class, or extra-curricular
activities during the previous 6 months, by reports of being bullied directly only,
bullied indirectly only, or being bullied directly and indirectly at school: 2001
Research suggests that being victimized by bullying may be an antecedent to aggressive behavior (Nansel
et al. 2003, Loeber and Stouthamer-Loeber 1998). As discussed above, bullied students may resort
to aggression in retaliation or be more inclined to respond to negative behaviors with antisocial responses.
In the 2001 SCS, about 2 percent of all students ages 12 through 18 reported carrying a weapon (gun,
knife, or some other weapon) to school for protection, and 5 percent reported being involved in a physical
fight (figure 7 and appendix B, table 6). While the 2001 SCS cannot be used to establish causality,
results show that more bullied students carried a weapon to school for protection (4 percent) in the
6 months prior to the survey than did nonbullied students (1 percent). Consistent with this finding,
Carney and Merrell (2001) also report that victims of bullying are more likely than their nonbullied
Taken to an extreme, this avoidance behavior may lead to truancy. Students who are bullied are at higher
risk for truancy and subsequent dropout (Carney and Merrell 2001). In the 2001 SCS, bullied students
were more likely than nonbullied students to skip school entirely because they thought someone
might attack or harm them (4 percent vs. 1 percent) (figure 5 and appendix B, table 5). Bullied students
were more likely to skip classes than were nonbullied students (3 percent vs. 0.2 percent).
Bullied students were also more likely to skip extracurricular activities compared to nonbullied students
(4 percent vs. 1 percent). Truancy was more likely to occur among students who were victims of
direct bullying than among victims of indirect bullying. Specifically, 4 percent of students who were directly
bullied skipped school compared to 1 percent of students who were indirectly bullied. Students who were
victims of both types of bullying were more likely to skip school (7 percent), class (7 percent), and extracurricular
activities (6 percent) than were students who were only indirectly bullied (1 percent, 1 percent,
and 2 percent, respectively), and were also more likely than students who were only directly bullied to
skip class (3 percent).
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
12
counterparts to bring weapons to school in order to protect themselves. No measurable differences were
detected in the 2001 SCS in student reports of weapon carrying among victims of only direct, only indirect,
and both forms of bullying.
Bullied students were also more likely to be involved in physical fights at school. About 15 percent of bullied
students reported being involved in a physical fight, compared to 4 percent of nonbullied students
(figure 6 and appendix B, table 6). Bullied students were more likely than nonbullied students
(4 percent) to engage in fights regardless of whether they were bullied only directly (15 percent) or
only indirectly (10 percent). Victims of indirect bullying only were less likely to engage in fights than were
victims of both forms of bullying (10 percent vs. 21 percent). Lawrence (1998) suggests that victims of
bullying may become aggressive toward other students. In this case, regardless of the type of bullying—
whether physical or social—bullied students may tend to react through physical confrontation.
Academic achievement is a focal concern for educators and schools across the nation. Past research
demonstrates that students who are targeted by bullies often have difficulty concentrating on their schoolwork,
resulting in academic achievement that is marginal to poor (Batsche and Knoff 1994). Farrington
(1993) also suggests that the psychological consequences of bullying can include lack of concentration
on schoolwork. The SCS 2001 allows for the examination of bullying behavior and self-reports of
academic grades. A few patterns emerged in the data, first, bullied students were less likely to report
getting mostly A’s than students who did not report or experience bullying at school (27 percent of
bullied students vs. 34 percent of non bullied students) (appendix B, table 7). However, bullied students
were more likely to report receiving A's and B's than D's and F's (27 percent and 41 percent vs.
8 percent, respectively). Second, of those students who reported lower grades, bullied students were
1Categories are mutually exclusive.
NOTE: “At school” was defined as in the school building, on school property, on a school bus, or going to and from school. Youth ages 12
through 18 were first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things
they did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?” This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because
other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?” This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied
includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Students included as carrying weapons reported carrying a gun, knife
or other weapon to school in the 6 months prior to the survey. Population size for students ages 12–18 is 24,315,000.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization
Survey, 2001.
Not Bullied Total Bullied Both Directly and Indirectly1 Directly Only1 Indirectly Only1
Carried a weapon Involved in a physical fight
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Percent
Weapon Carrying and Fighting
1
4 4 3 3 4
15
21
15
10
Figure 6. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported carrying a weapon for protection or
being involved in a physical fight at school during the previous 6 months, by reports
of being bullied directly only, indirectly only, or being bullied directly and indirectly at
school: 2001
13
more likely to report receiving mostly D's and F's than their non-bullied counterparts (8 percent vs.
3 percent). Victims of both forms of bullying were more likely to report getting D's and F's than those
who were bullied directly or indirectly (12 percent, 7 percent, and 6 percent, respectively).
Figure 7. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported receiving different academic grades
during the school year, by reports of being bullied directly only, indirectly only, or
being bullied directly and indirectly at school: 2001
1Categories are mutually exclusive.
NOTE: “At school” was defined as in the school building, on school property, on a school bus, or going to and from school. Youth ages 12
through 18 were first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things
they did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?” This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because
other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?” This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied
includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students ages 12–18 is 24,315,000.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization
Survey, 2001.
Mostly A’s Mostly B’s Mostly C’s Mostly D’s and F’s
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Percent
Academic grades
34
27
21
27
30
41 41
39 39
43
20
24
27 27
20
3
8
12
7 6
Not Bullied Total Bullied Both Directly and Indirectly1 Directly Only1 Indirectly Only1
2001 SCHOOL CRIME SUPPLEMENT
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
14
Summary
and Conclusions
The analyses in this report employ specific subtypes of bullying which may be useful when looking
at bullying interactions. This report shows that 14 percent of students ages 12 through 18
reported they had been bullied at school in the previous 6 months. Three percent reported being the victims
of direct or physical bullying only, 7 percent reported being the victims of indirect, or social bullying,
and 5 percent reported being the victims of both types of bullying. This report also shows that the
specific subtypes of bullying are often related to different individual-level and school-level characteristics.
Bullied students are generally younger students of either sex, and are more often White than Black.
No measurable differences were detected when comparing the prevalence of bullying by students’ household
income or urbanicity. Bullied students report that their schools are more likely to have gangs and
less likely to have supervision in the form of police officers, security guards, or school staff in the hallways.
Finally, student reports of attending public or private schools are not associated with student reports
of bullying.
The findings also suggest that students who are victims of bullying at school more often are victimized in
other ways. When compared to nonbullied students, bullied students are more likely to fear attack at
school, on the way to and from school, and away from school. Bullied students engage in a variety of
avoidance behaviors and are more likely to be truant from school, classes, or extracurricular activities than
their nonbullied peers. A highlight of this report is the finding that victims of bullying are more likely to
exhibit negative outcome behaviors, such as weapon carrying or being involved in physical fights, compared
to students who are not bullied. In fact, more students who were bullied reported carrying a weapon
to school for protection (4 percent), compared to nonbullied students (1 percent). In addition, more
bullied students were involved in a physical fight than were nonbullied students (15 percent vs. 4 percent).
One prior research investigation suggests that victims of bullying are more likely to engage in
violent behaviors (Nansel et al. 2003), and those findings are confirmed in this national analysis.
Of final import to educators, parents, and practitioners, the findings show that bullied students were less
likely to report receiving A’s than nonbullied students, but were more likely to report receiving A’s and B’s
than D’s and F’s. When focusing on poorly performing students, bullied students were more likely to
report getting mostly D’s or F’s than their nonbullied counterparts.
15
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17
Appendix A:
Technical Notes
Survey. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and the School Crime Supplement (SCS)
to the NCVS were used to provide estimates in this report. The NCVS, administered for the U.S. Bureau of
Justice Statistics by the Census Bureau, is the nation’s primary source of information on crime victimization
and the victims of crime. Initiated in 1972 and redesigned in 1992, the NCVS collects detailed
information on the frequency and nature of the crimes of rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and
simple assault, theft, household burglary, and motor vehicle theft experienced by Americans and their
households each year. The survey measures crimes reported as well as those not reported to police.
The 2001 NCVS sample consists of about 53,730 households selected using a stratified, multistage cluster
design. In the first stage, the primary sampling units (PSUs), consisting of counties or groups of counties,
were selected. In the second stage, smaller areas, called Enumeration Districts (EDs), were
selected from each sampled PSU. Finally, from selected EDs, clusters of four households, called segments,
were selected for interview. At each stage, the selection was done proportionate to population size in
order to create a self-weighting sample. The final sample was augmented to account for housing
units constructed after the 1990 Decennial Census. Within each sampled household, Census Bureau personnel
interviewed all household members ages 12 and older to determine whether they had been
victimized according to the measured crimes during the 6 months preceding the interview. About 79,360
persons ages 12 and older are interviewed each 6 months. Households remain in the sample for 3
years and are interviewed 7 times at 6-month intervals.
Created as a supplement to the NCVS and codesigned by the National Center for Education Statistics
(NCES) and Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the SCS survey was conducted in 1989, 1995, 1999,
2001, and 2003 to collect additional information about school-related victimizations on a national level.
The survey was designed to assist policymakers as well as academic researchers and practitioners at
the federal, state, and local levels in making informed decisions concerning crime in schools. The SCS
asks students a number of key questions about their experiences with and perceptions of crime and violence
that occurred inside their school, on school grounds, on a school bus, or on the way to or from
school. Additional questions not included in the NCVS were also added to the SCS, such as the presence
of weapons and street gangs in school, whether students were bullied or rejected at school, attitudinal
questions relating to fear of victimization and avoidance behavior at school, preventive measures used
by the school, participation in afterschool activities, perceptions of school rules, the presence of haterelated
words and graffiti in school, as well as the availability of drugs and alcohol in school.
In all SCS survey years, the SCS was conducted for a 6-month period from January through June in all
households selected for the NCVS. Within these households, the eligible respondents for the SCS
were those household members ages 12 through 18 who had attended school at any time during the
6 months preceding the interview, and were enrolled in grades 6 through 12 in a school that would help
them advance toward a high school diploma. Eligible respondents were asked the supplemental questions
in the SCS only after completing their entire NCVS interview.
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
18
In 2001, the definition for “at school” pertaining to victimizations included those that occurred on school
property, going to and from school, or while attending school. The NCVS variables appended to the SCS
data file asking where the incident happened and what the victim was doing when it happened were
used to ascertain whether the incident happened at school.
The NCVS “type of crime” variable appended to the SCS data file was used to classify victimizations
of students in the SCS as violent or property victimization. Any victimization is a combination of violent
victimization and property. If the student reported an incident of either violent or property victimization
or both, he or she is counted in the any victimization measure. Violent crimes include serious violent
crimes—rape, sexual assault, and aggravated assault —and simple assault. See the Glossary for more
detailed information about the construction of these and other variables.
Readers should note that several limitations inherent to victimization surveys, such as the NCVS SCS,
might impact estimates of bullying (Cantor and Lynch 2000). First, the SCS includes unbounded interviews,
or interviews that include victimizations that exceed the 6-month reference period asked of
SCS respondents. This may artificially increase reports of victimization since respondents may recall events
outside of the given reference period. For example, a respondent may mistakenly report an event that
happened 1 year ago and not within the requested past 6 months. Second, the SCS does not use a classification
scheme for determining bullying events. That is, the larger NCVS uses sets of characteristics
to classify events as criminal whereas the SCS often relies on the respondent to self-determine a condition.
For example, respondents are asked if they are bullied and allowed to determine if they fall
into the bullying category based on the definition provided, rather than asked about characteristics of
the situation and allowing the analyst to determine if the respondent has been bullied. This allows for
the victim to use his own interpretation or conceptions to define a situation, when the same situation
may not have been labeled bullying by a bystander or the offender. Third, victim surveys emphasize crime
events as incidents at one point in time. Reality tells us that victims can often live in a state of victimization
where they are threatened or victimized regularly. While the NCVS does allow for these series
to be flagged for criminal victimizations, reports of bullying behaviors are not collected in this way. Finally,
respondent recall of bullying events may be inaccurate. People may forget the event entirely or recall the
characteristics of the event inaccurately. This would lead to an underestimation of victimization.
Unit and item response rates. Unit response rates indicate how many sampled units have completed
interviews. Because interviews with students could only be completed after households had responded
to the NCVS, the unit completion rate for the SCS reflects both the household interview completion rate
and the student interview completion rate. A total of 8,374 students participated in the SCS 2001.
The household completion rate was 93 percent, and the student completion rate was 77 percent.
Thus, the overall SCS response rate (calculated by multiplying the household completion rate by the student
completion rate) was 72 percent in 2001.
The rate at which the respondents provide a valid response to a given item is referred to as its item response
rate. Item response rates for items used in this report were generally high. Most items were answered by
over 95 percent of all eligible respondents. The only exception was the household income question, which
was answered by approximately 84 percent of all households in 2001 and approximately 86 percent
of all households in the 1999 administration of the survey. Income and income-related questions typically
have relatively low response rates compared to other items due to their sensitive nature. No explicit
imputation procedure was used to correct for item nonresponse. However, restricting the analysis to those
responses that were provided and ignoring the missing responses is an implicit form of imputation.
The assumption is that the missing responses are completely random, and represent a subsample of
the full sample.
19
Weights were developed to compensate for differential probabilities of selection and nonresponse.
The weighted data permit inferences about the 12- to 18-year-old student population enrolled in schools
in 2001. The weight used with the 2001 SCS datafile is V297 (SCS person weight).
Survey standard errors. As a result of the complex sampling design of the SCS and the NCVS, the resulting
statistics are more variable than they would have been had they been based on data from a simple
random sample of the same size. Several procedures and statistical software packages are available
for calculating precise estimates of sampling errors for complex samples. The analyses carried out in
this report used the Taylor Series procedure to calculate standard errors and was done through the
AM statistical software package that is available for free downloading at http://am.air.org.
The sample of students selected for each SCS is just one of many possible samples that could have
been selected. It is possible that estimates from a given SCS student sample may differ from estimates
that would have been produced from other student samples. This type of variability is called sampling
error, or the standard error, because it arises from using a sample of students rather than all students.
The standard error is a measure of the variability of a parameter estimate. It indicates how much variation
there is in the population of possible estimates of a parameter for a given sample size. The probability
that a complete census count would differ from the sample estimate by less than 1 standard
error is about 68 percent. The chance that the difference would be less than 1.65 standard errors is about
90 percent, and that the difference would be less than 1.96 standard errors, about 95 percent. Standard
errors for the percentage estimates are presented in the appendix tables.
Standard errors are typically developed assuming that the sample is drawn purely at random. The
sample for the SCS was not a simple random sample, however. Calculation of the standard errors requires
procedures that are markedly different from the ones used when the data are from a simple random sample.
To estimate the statistics and standard errors, this report used the Taylor series
Statistical tests. Comparisons that have been drawn in the text of this report have been tested for
statistical significance to ensure that the differences are larger than those that might be expected due to
sampling variation. The statistical comparisons in this report were based on the t statistic. Whether the
statistical test is considered significant or not is determined by calculating a t value for the difference
between a pair of means or proportions and comparing this value to published tables of values, called
critical values (cv). The alpha level is an a priori statement of the probability that a difference exists in fact
rather than by chance.
The t statistic between estimates from various subgroups presented in the tables can be computed by
using the following formula:
where x1 and x2 are the estimates to be compared (e.g., the means of sample members in two groups)
and SE1 and SE2 are their corresponding standard errors.
While many descriptive comparisons in this report were tested using a t statistic, some comparisons among
categories of an ordered variable with three or more levels involved a test for a linear trend across all categories,
rather than a series of tests between pairs of categories. In this report, when differences among
percentages were examined relative to a variable with ordered categories, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
was used to test for a linear relationship between the two variables. To do this, ANOVA models included
2001 SCHOOL CRIME SUPPLEMENT
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
20
orthogonal linear contrasts corresponding to successive levels of the independent variable. These were
used to create mean squares for the within- and between-group variance components and their corresponding
F statistics, which were then compared with published values of F for a significance level
of 0.05. Significant values of both the overall F and the F associated with the linear contrast term
were required as evidence of a linear relationship between the two variables.
Glossary—Definitions of Variables Used
Each row (student and school characteristics) and column variable used in the analyses for this report
is described below. All variables are constructed from the 2001 SCS data file. The data file contains all
variables collected by the SCS as well as select variables collected in the 2001 NCVS-1 Basic Screen
Questionnaire and the NCVS-2 Crime Incident Report that have been appended to the SCS. The data are
available for download from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research via NCES’
Crime and Safety Surveys portal web site located at: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/crime/surveys.asp.
Prior to analysis, the 2001 SCS data file was filtered to include only students who were ages 12
through 18 (using v212 [RESPONDENT AGE]), were enrolled in primary or secondary education programs
(using v217 [GRADE LEVEL IN SCHOOL]), were enrolled in school in the past 6 months (using v215
[DID YOU ATTEND SCHOOL DURING THE LAST 6 MONTHS?]), and were not home-schooled during that
time (using v3958 [HOME SCHOOLED DURING LAST 6 MONTHS?]). Students who did not fulfill these
characteristics were deleted from the analysis. The final unweighted sample size was 8,374.
Student Characteristics
SEX (v140): This variable was taken directly from v140 for the sex of the respondent: Male or Female.
This variable was collected in the NCVS-1 Basic Screen Questionnaire and appended to the SCS data file.
RACE/ETHNICITY (v145 and v146): This variable was taken directly from v145 for the race of the respondent
and v146 for the Hispanic origin of the respondent. If the respondent identified themselves as
Hispanic in v146, they were categorized as Hispanic, regardless of their response to v145. Non-Hispanics
in v145 were classified as White, Black, or Other. Those individuals included in the “Other” category identified
themselves as Asians, Pacific Islanders, and American Indians (including Alaska Native). The
resulting categories were: 1) White, non-Hispanic; 2) Black, non-Hispanic; 4) Hispanic; and 5) Other. Race
categories exclude Hispanic origin unless specified. Variables v145 and v156 were collected in the NCVS-
1 Basic Screen Questionnaire and appended to the SCS data file.
GRADE (v217): This variable was taken directly from v217. Response options included “Fifth and under”,
“Sixth” through “Twelfth” grades, “Other”, and “College/GED/Post-graduate/Other non-eligible” All
respondents not in grades six through twelve were excluded from the analysis. This variable was collected
in item 2a of the SCS instrument (located in appendix D).
HOUSEHOLD INCOME (v22): This variable was taken directly from v22 for the household income of
the respondent and collapsed into the following categories: 1) Less than $7,500; 2) $7,500–14,999;
3) $15,000–24,999; 4) $25,000–34,999; 5) $35,000–49,999; 6) $50,000–74,999; and 7) $75,000 or
more. This variable was collected in the NCVS-1 Basic Screen Questionnaire and appended to the SCS
data file.
PLACE OF RESIDENCE (v119): This variable was taken directly from v119 for the Metropolitan
Statistical Area (MSA) Status of the respondent’s household as defined by the 1990 U.S. Bureau of the
Census. Categories include: Central city of an (S)MSA (Urban) ; In (S)MSA but not in central city (Suburban);
and Not (S)MSA (Rural). This variable was appended to the SCS data file by the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
21
BULLIED (v272 and v3971): This variable was constructed using v272 and v3971. If respondents’ answered
affirmatively to either v272 and v3971 they were categorized as “Bullied.” v272 asks, “During the last
6 months, have you been bullied at school? That is, has anyone picked on you a lot or tried to make
you do things you didn’t want to do like give them money?” v3971 asks, “During the last 6 months, have
you often felt rejected by other students at school? For example, have you ever felt rejected because other
students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?” Variables v272
and v3971 were collected in items 19 and 20a of the SCS instrument.
BOTH DIRECTLY AND INDIRECTLY (v272 and v3971): This variable was constructed using v272 and v3971.
If respondents’ answered affirmatively to both v272 and v3971 they were categorized as “Bullied
Both Directly and Indirectly.” Variables v272 and v3971 were collected in items 19 and 20a of the SCS
instrument.
DIRECTLY ONLY (v272): This variable was constructed using v272. If respondents’ answered affirmatively
to v272 they were categorized as “Bullied Directly.” This variable was collected in item 19 of the SCS
instrument.
INDIRECTLY ONLY (v3971): This variable was constructed using v3971. If respondents’ answered affirmatively
to v3971 they were categorized as “Bullied Indirectly.” This variable was collected in item 20a of
the SCS instrument.
School Characteristics
SCHOOL TYPE (v221): This variable was taken directly from v221 that asks the type of school for each
student: Pubic or Private. This variable was collected in item 7a of the SCS instrument.
GANG PRESENCE (v263): This variable is taken directly from v263 that asks students whether there
are street gangs present at their school. Instructions for defining street gangs were as follows: “You may
know these as street gangs, fighting gangs, crews, or something else. Gangs may use common
names, signs, symbols, or colors. For this survey, we are interested in all gangs, whether or not they
are involved in violent or illegal activity.” Response options included “Yes”, “No”, and “Don’t Know.”
This variable was collected in item 30 of the SCS instrument.
PRESENCE OF SECURITY OFFICERS OR ASSIGNED POLICE (v233): This variable was taken directly from
v233 that asked students whether there are security guards and/or assigned police officers present at
their school to ensure the safety of students. Response options included “Yes”, “No”, and “Don’t Know.”
This variable was collected in item 14a of the SCS instrument.
HALLWAY SUPERVISION BY SCHOOL STAFF (v234): This variable was taken directly from v234 that asked
students whether there is hallway supervision by other school staff or other adults to ensure the safety
of students. Response options included “Yes”, “No”, and “Don’t Know.” This variable was collected
in item 14b the SCS instrument.
Column Variables
VICTIMIZATION (v819, v1341, v1863, v2385, v2907, v3429, and v3951): Each SCS respondent represents
a student who may have reported at least one and as many as 7 incident(s) of victimization on
the NCVS-1. For each incident of victimization reported, a Crime Incident Report NCVS-2 was completed.
These (up to 7) Crime Incident Reports were appended to the SCS data file for each respondent who
reported at least one incidence of victimization. The victimization categories used in this report for
each of these incidents of victimization were determined using the Type of Crime (TOC) code reported
in the Crime Incident Reports for each incident. The TOC codes used to determine the type of
2001 SCHOOL CRIME SUPPLEMENT
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
22
victimization were taken directly from variables v819 (first incident), v1341 (second incident), v1863 (third
incident), v2385 (fourth incident), v2907 (fifth incident), v3429 (sixth incident), and v3951 (seventh incident).
Each TOC variable contains several types of crime that have been categorized into “serious violent,”
“violent,” “property,” and “any” for the purposes of this report. “Serious violent crime” includes:
completed and attempted rapes, all sexual attacks, all completed and attempted robberies, all aggravated
assaults, all verbal threats and threats with weapons, sexual assault without injury and unwanted
sexual contact without force. “Violent crime” includes: serious violent crimes listed above, simple assault
with injury, assault without a weapon and without injury, and verbal threat of assault. “Property
crime” includes: purse snatching, pick pocketing, all burglaries, attempted forcible entry, completed and
attempted motor vehicle theft, and completed thefts valuing less than $10 or greater. “Any crime”
includes one or more reports of any of the crimes listed above. Each of these measure the prevalence
of victimization, that is, if a respondent reported one or more incidents in one of these types of victimizations,
they were included as a victim only once under the specified category.
AFRAID OF ATTACK AT SCHOOL, ON THE WAY TO OR FROM SCHOOL AND AWAY FROM SCHOOL (v284,
v285, and v286): These variables were taken directly from v284, v285 and v286 that asked students if
they were afraid someone would attack or threaten to attack them at school, on the way to or from
school, and away from school, respectively. Response options were collapsed into the following categories:
“Never,” “Almost Never,” and “Sometimes/Most of the time.” These variables were collected
in items 24, 25, and 26 of the SCS instrument.
AVOIDING CERTAIN AREAS OF THE SCHOOL AND SKIPPING SCHOOL, CLASS OR EXTRA-CURRICULAR
ACTIVITIES (v273, v274, v275, v276, v277, v278, v279, v280, v281, v282, and v283): Student reports of
avoiding certain areas in school were taken directly from the following variables: v273 (avoided shortest
route to school), v274 (avoided entrance to school), v275 (avoided hallways or stairs), v276
(avoided school cafeteria), v277 (avoided restrooms), v278 (avoided other places in school building), v279
(avoided parking lot), v280 (avoided other places on school grounds), v281 (avoided extra-curricular activities),
v282 (avoided class), and v283 (stayed home from school). Response options included “Yes” or
“No.” These variables were collected in items 23a, 23b, 23c, and 23d of the SCS instrument.
CARRIED A WEAPON (v287, v288, and v289): This variable was constructed from three separate variables
that asked the student if they had carried a gun (v287) or knife (v288) intended as a weapon or any
other weapon (v289) to school or on to school grounds during the last 6 months. If a respondent answered
“Yes” to any of these items, they were included in the derived variable. These variables were collected
in items 27a, 27b, and 27c of the SCS instrument.
INVOLVED IN A PHYISICAL FIGHT (v3969): This variable was taken directly from v3969 that asked students
whether they had been involved in one or more physical fights at school in the last 6 months.
Response options included “Yes” and “No”. This variable was collected in item 18a of the SCS instrument.
SELF-REPORTS OF GRADES (v3982): This variable was taken directly from v3982 that asked students what
grades they mostly received across all subjects in the past school year. Response options included
“A’s,” “B’s,” “C’s,” “D’s,” “F’s,” and “School does not give grades/no alphabetic grade equivalent.” This
variable was collected in item 34 of the SCS instrument.
For further information. NCES has collected and published data on school crime and safety through
a number of publications. Readers who are interested in further information about these studies and
downloading available data files, including the SCS data file used in this report, should contact
Kathryn Chandler at kathryn.chandler@ed.gov or visit the Crime and Safety Surveys web site at
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/crime/.
23
Table 1. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied directly and/or indirectly at school
during the previous 6 months, by selected student characteristics: 2001
Number Both Directly
Student characteristics of students Total and Indirectly1 Directly Only1 Indirectly Only1
Total 24,315,000 14.4 4.5 3.4 6.5
Student sex
Male 12,591,000 15.0 5.0 3.6 6.4
Female 11,724,000 13.7 3.9 3.1 6.7
Student race/ethnicity2
White, non-Hispanic 15,784,000 15.4 4.9 3.5 6.9
Black, non-Hispanic 3,793,000 12.3 3.2 2.6 6.6
Hispanic 3,446,000 13.0 4.3 2.9 4.2
Other, non-Hispanic 1,063,000 10.8 3.7 3.3 5.3
Student grade
Sixth 2,113,000 24.3 9.3 4.8 10.1
Seventh 3,848,000 21.6 8.0 5.0 8.6
Eighth 3,947,000 16.0 5.3 3.9 6.8
Ninth 4,093,000 13.9 3.9 4.6 5.3
Tenth 3,774,000 10.4 2.1 2.5 5.8
Eleventh 3,581,000 9.5 3.1 1.2 5.2
Twelfth 2,960,000 7.4 1.0 1.4 4.9
Student household income
Less than $7,500 836,000 15.0 3.8 4.0 7.1
$7,500–14,999 993,000 13.3 4.9 3.1 5.4
$15,000–24,999 2,524,000 17.5 5.9 4.2 7.3
$25,000–34,999 2,874,000 15.0 5.4 4.1 5.5
$35,000–49,999 4,074,000 14.8 4.7 2.8 7.4
$50,000–74,999 4,279,000 13.2 4.2 2.5 6.5
$75,000 or more 4,861,000 12.9 3.5 2.6 6.8
Student place of residence
Urban 6,574,000 13.2 4.1 2.7 6.4
Suburban 12,812,000 14.9 4.5 3.6 6.8
Rural 4,929,000 14.7 5.0 3.7 6.0
1Categories are mutually exclusive. Directly Only, Indirectly Only, and Both Directly and Indirectly are distinct categories. Students appearing
in one category do not appear in other categories.
2Other includes Asians, Pacific Islanders, and American Indians (including Alaska Natives). Race categories exclude Hispanic origin unless
specified.
NOTE: “At school“ was defined as in the school building, on school property, on a school bus, or going to and from school. Youth ages
12 through 18 were first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things
they did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?“ This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because
other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?“ This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied
includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students ages 12–18 is 24,315,000. Detail
may not sum to totals due to missing data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey,
2001.
Appendix B:
Estimate Tables
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
24
Table 3. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being victimized at school during the previous 6
months, by reports of being bullied directly and/or indirectly at school: 2001
Number Serious
of students Any Violent1 Violent Property
Total 24,315,000 5.5 0.4 1.8 4.2
Not Bullied 20,680,000 4.2 0.3 0.8 3.6
Bullied 3,494,000 13.0 1.5 7.3 7.6
Both Directly and Indirectly2 1,095,000 17.4 3.7 10.9 9.9
Directly Only2 816,000 18.3 0.7 10.8 9.2
Indirectly Only2 1,583,000 7.3 0.3 2.9 5.3
1Serious violent crimes are also included in violent crimes.
2Categories are mutually exclusive.
NOTE: Serious violent crimes include rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes include serious violent crimes
and simple assault. Any crimes include violent crimes and theft. “At school“ includes inside the school building, on school property, or on the
way to or from school. Youth ages 12 through 18 were first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on
them a lot or tried to make them do things they did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?“ This is referred to as direct bullying. They were
also asked, “Have you felt rejected because other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?“
This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students
ages 12–18 is 24,315,000. Detail may not sum to totals due to missing data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey,
2001.
Table 2. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied directly and/or indirectly at school
during the previous 6 months, by selected school characteristics: 2001
Number Both Directly
School characteristics of students Total and Indirectly1 Directly Only1 Indirectly Only1
Total 24,315,000 14.4 4.5 3.4 6.5
School type
Public 22,176,000 14.4 4.6 3.4 6.5
Private 2,098,000 14.0 4.5 2.7 6.7
Gang presence
Yes 4,896,000 21.1 8.1 4.9 8.1
No 15,993,000 13.0 3.7 3.1 6.2
Presence of security officers
or assigned police
Yes 15,475,000 13.3 3.8 3.4 6.1
No 8,840,000 16.2 5.7 3.4 7.1
Hallway supervision by
school staff
Yes 21,479,000 13.9 4.4 3.3 6.2
No 2,836,000 17.9 5.6 3.7 8.5
1Categories are mutually exclusive.
NOTE: “At school“ includes inside the school building, on school property, or on the way to or from school. Youth ages 12 through 18
were first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things they did
not want to do (e.g., give them money)?“ This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because
other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?“ This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied
includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students ages 12–18 is 24,315,000. Detail
may not sum to totals due to missing data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey,
2001.
Bullied
Victimization
25
Table 5. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported avoiding certain areas of school and skipping school, class, or extracurricular
activities during the previous 6 months, by reports of being bullied directly and/or indirectly at school: 2001
Avoided Avoided
other other Skipped
Number Avoided Avoided Avoided Avoided places in Avoided places extra-
Victim of shortest entrance hallways school Avoided school parking on school Skipped Skipped curricular
behaviors students route to school or stairs cafeteria restrooms building lot grounds school class activities
Total 24,315,000 2.5 1.2 2.1 1.4 2.2 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.1 0.6 1.1
Not Bullied 20,680,000 1.9 0.8 1.3 0.7 1.5 0.8 1.1 1.1 0.7 0.2 0.6
Bullied 3,494,000 5.9 3.6 7.1 5.8 6.9 5.3 5.0 5.5 3.8 3.0 3.8
Both Directly
and Indirectly1 1,095,000 9.3 6.6 12.2 9.8 10.4 9.4 7.5 9.4 7.2 6.5 6.0
Directly Only1 816,000 3.4 2.7 7.5 5.0 6.2 4.8 4.7 5.3 4.3 2.5 4.2
Indirectly Only1 1,583,000 4.9 2.0 3.4 3.4 4.8 2.8 3.4 2.8 1.3 0.8 2.1
1Categories are mutually exclusive.
NOTE: “At school“ was defined as in the school building, on school property, on a school bus, or going to and from school. Youth ages 12 through 18 were first
asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things they did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?“
This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you
from activities?“ This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students
ages 12–18 is 24,315,000. Detail may not sum to totals due to missing data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey, 2001.
2001 SCHOOL CRIME SUPPLEMENT
Table 4. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported fearing attack during the previous 6 months at school, on the way to
and from school, and away from school, by reports of being bullied directly and/or indirectly at school: 2001
Number Sometimes/ Sometimes/ Sometimes/
Victim of Almost Most of Almost Most of Almost Most of
behaviors students Never Never the Time Never Never the Time Never Never the Time
Total 24,315,000 80.7 13.9 4.7 87.5 8.2 3.6 80.9 13.7 4.6
Not Bullied 20,680,000 85.2 11.9 2.5 90.1 7.2 2.4 83.9 12.3 3.4
Bullied 3,494,000 55.9 26.1 17.9 74.4 14.7 10.7 65.3 22.3 12.2
Both Directly
and Indirectly1 1,095,000 42.0 26.4 31.2 64.1 18.3 16.9 60.1 23.8 15.5
Directly Only1 816,000 52.5 33.4 14.1 76.0 13.7 10.3 62.8 26.8 10.4
Indirectly Only1 1,583,000 67.3 22.0 10.6 80.6 12.7 6.6 70.2 18.9 11.0
1Categories are mutually exclusive.
NOTE: “At school“ was defined as in the school building, on school property, on a school bus, or going to and from school. Youth ages 12 through 18 were first
asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things they did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?“
This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you
from activities?“ This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students
ages 12–18 is 24,315,000. Detail may not sum to totals due to missing data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey, 2001.
Afraid of attack on the way
to or from school
Afraid of attack
Afraid of attack at school away from school1
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
26
Table 7. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported receiving different academic grades during the
school year, by reports of being bullied directly and/or indirectly at school: 2001
Number Mostly
of students Mostly A’s Mostly B’s Mostly C’s D’s and F’s
Total 24,315,000 32.6 40.8 20.8 3.9
Not Bullied 20,680,000 33.7 41.0 20.4 3.2
Bullied 3,494,000 26.6 40.6 23.7 8.3
Both Directly and Indirectly1 1,095,000 21.2 38.6 26.7 12.1
Directly Only1 816,000 26.5 39.4 26.7 7.1
Indirectly Only1 1,583,000 30.3 42.5 20.1 6.3
1Categories are mutually exclusive.
NOTE: “At school“ includes inside the school building, on school property, or on the way to or from school. Youth ages 12 through 18
were first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things they did
not want to do (e.g., give them money)?“ This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because
other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?“ This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied
includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students ages 12–18 is 24,315,000. Detail
may not sum to totals due to missing data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey,
2001.
Self-reports of grades
Table 6. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported carrying a weapon for protection or being
involved in a physical fight at school during the previous 6 months, by reports of being bullied
directly and/or indirectly at school: 2001
Victim behaviors Number of students Carried a weapon Involved in a physical fight
Total 24,315,000 1.8 5.2
Not Bullied 20,680,000 1.4 3.6
Bullied 3,494,000 3.7 14.6
Both Directly and Indirectly1 1,095,000 4.4 21.1
Directly Only1 816,000 3.3 15.0
Indirectly Only1 1,583,000 3.4 9.8
1Categories are mutually exclusive.
NOTE: Students included as carrying weapons reported carrying a gun, knife or other weapon to school in the 6 months prior to the survey.
“At school“ includes inside the school building, on school property, or on the way to or from school. Youth ages 12 through 18 were
first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things they did not
want to do (e.g., give them money)?“ This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because other
students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?“ This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied includes
youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students ages 12–18 is 24,315,000. Detail may not sum to
totals due to missing data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey,
2001.
27
Appendix C:
Standard Error Tables
Table S1. Standard errors Table 1. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied directly
and/or indirectly at school during the previous 6 months, by selected student characteristics: 2001
Both Directly
Student characteristics Total and Indirectly Directly Only Indirectly Only
Total 0.54 0.23 0.22 0.37
Student sex
Male 0.72 0.35 0.36 0.45
Female 0.62 0.32 0.28 0.43
Student race/ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic 0.63 0.31 0.27 0.45
Black, non-Hispanic 1.32 0.54 0.60 0.86
Hispanic 1.16 0.68 0.42 0.70
Other, non-Hispanic 1.72 0.86 0.84 1.08
Student grade
Sixth 1.59 0.98 0.90 1.23
Seventh 1.33 0.75 0.58 1.01
Eighth 1.12 0.60 0.53 0.73
Ninth 1.02 0.55 0.71 0.65
Tenth 0.90 0.42 0.45 0.78
Eleventh 0.80 0.53 0.28 0.70
Twelfth 0.99 0.32 0.43 0.83
Student household income
Less than $7,500 2.29 1.13 1.12 1.73
$7,500–14,999 2.33 1.20 1.08 1.61
$15,000–24,999 1.73 1.00 0.76 1.13
$25,000–34,999 1.29 0.74 0.77 0.74
$35,000–49,999 1.11 0.55 0.49 0.84
$50,000–74,999 0.94 0.56 0.41 0.68
$75,000 or more 0.91 0.50 0.39 0.63
Student place of residence
Urban 0.82 0.44 0.37 0.54
Suburban 0.65 0.32 0.26 0.45
Rural 1.63 0.57 0.69 1.01
NOTE: “At school” was defined as in the school building, on school property, on a school bus, or going to and from school. Youth ages
12 through 18 were first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things
they did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?” This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because
other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?” This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied
includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students ages 12–18 is 24,315,000.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey,
2001.
Bullied
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
28
Table S2. Standard errors for Table 2. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied directly
and/or indirectly at school during the previous 6 months, by selected school characteristics: 2001
Both Directly
School characteristics Total and Indirectly Directly Only Indirectly Only
Total 0.54 0.23 0.22 0.37
School type
Public 0.56 0.89 0.23 0.39
Private 1.18 0.23 0.68 0.87
Gang presence
Yes 1.13 0.70 0.52 0.73
No 0.57 0.26 0.28 0.42
Presence of security officers
or assigned police
Yes 0.60 0.27 0.30 0.41
No 0.86 0.45 0.33 0.64
Hallway supervision by
school staff
Yes 0.53 0.23 0.23 0.36
No 1.31 0.82 0.57 1.01
NOTE: “At school” includes inside the school building, on school property, or on the way to or from school. Youth ages 12 through 18
were first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things they did
not want to do (e.g., give them money)?” This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because
other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?” This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied
includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students ages 12–18 is 24,315,000.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey,
2001.
Bullied
Table S3. Standard Errors for Table 3. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being victimized at
school during the previous 6 months, by reports of being bullied directly and/or indirectly at
school: 2001
Serious
Any Violent Violent Property
Total 0.31 0.08 0.19 0.24
Not Bullied 0.27 0.06 0.10 0.24
Bullied 1.13 0.41 0.94 0.78
Both Directly and Indirectly 2.19 1.20 2.03 1.63
Directly Only 2.47 0.46 2.01 1.64
Indirectly Only 1.26 0.23 0.89 1.09
NOTE: Serious violent crimes include rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes include serious violent crimes
and simple assault. Any crimes include violent crimes and theft. “At school” includes inside the school building, on school property, or on the
way to or from school. Youth ages 12 through 18 were first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on
them a lot or tried to make them do things they did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?” This is referred to as direct bullying. They were
also asked, “Have you felt rejected because other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?”
This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students
ages 12–18 is 24,315,000.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey,
2001.
Victimization
29
Table S4. Standard errors for Table 4. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported fearing attack during the previous 6
months at school, on the way to and from school, and away from school, by reports of being bullied directly and/or
indirectly at school: 2001
Sometimes/ Sometimes/ Sometimes/
Almost Most of Almost Most of Almost Most of
Victim behaviors Never Never the Time Never Never the Time Never Never the Time
Total 0.62 0.55 0.29 0.44 0.35 0.24 0.60 0.52 0.28
Not Bullied 0.53 0.48 0.23 0.44 0.38 0.23 0.62 0.53 0.26
Bullied 1.84 1.82 1.35 1.30 1.15 0.94 1.52 1.34 1.08
Both Directly and Indirectly 2.77 2.39 2.63 2.61 2.13 2.09 2.34 2.19 1.90
Directly Only 3.53 3.55 2.28 2.83 2.39 1.83 3.57 3.70 2.02
Indirectly Only 2.69 2.57 1.56 1.76 1.51 1.00 2.10 1.63 1.65
NOTE: “At school” was defined as in the school building, on school property, on a school bus, or going to and from school. Youth ages 12 through 18 were first
asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things they did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?”
This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you
from activities?” This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students
ages 12–18 is 24,315,000.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey, 2001.
Afraid of attack on the way
to or from school
Afraid of attack
Afraid of attack at school away from school
Table S5. Standard errors for Table 5. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported avoiding certain areas of school and skipping
school, class, or extra-curricular activities during the previous 6 months, by reports of being bullied directly and/or
indirectly at school: 2001
Avoided Avoided
other other Skipped
Avoided Avoided Avoided Avoided places in Avoided places on extra-
Victim shortest entrance hallways school Avoided school parking school Skipped Skipped curricular
behaviors route to school or stairs cafeteria restrooms building lot grounds school class activities
Total 0.20 0.11 0.18 0.16 0.19 0.14 0.14 0.15 0.13 0.09 0.12
Not Bullied 0.17 0.11 0.15 0.11 0.16 0.11 0.12 0.12 0.11 0.06 0.10
Bullied 0.82 0.56 0.81 0.75 0.74 0.71 0.57 0.70 0.66 0.53 0.48
Both Directly
and Indirectly 1.61 1.28 1.80 1.78 1.59 1.64 1.31 1.56 1.59 1.42 1.18
Directly Only 1.11 1.05 1.63 1.35 1.38 1.27 1.28 1.47 1.00 0.84 1.00
Indirectly Only 1.17 0.57 0.82 0.82 0.98 0.76 0.75 0.68 0.60 0.46 0.66
NOTE: “At school” was defined as in the school building, on school property, on a school bus, or going to and from school. Youth ages 12 through 18 were first
asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things they did not want to do (e.g., give them money)?”
This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you
from activities?” This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students
ages 12–18 is 24,315,000.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey, 2001.
2001 SCHOOL CRIME SUPPLEMENT
STUDENT REPORTS OF BULLYING
30
Table S7. Standard errors for Table 7. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported receiving different
academic grades during the school year, by reports of being bullied directly and/or indirectly at
school: 2001
Mostly A’s Mostly B’s Mostly C’s Mostly D’s and F’s
Total 0.69 0.64 0.55 0.26
Not Bullied 0.72 0.68 0.59 0.24
Bullied 1.35 1.50 1.41 0.93
Both Directly and Indirectly 2.35 2.66 2.53 1.66
Directly Only 3.36 2.95 3.18 1.53
Indirectly Only 2.19 2.39 1.82 1.35
NOTE: “At school” includes inside the school building, on school property, or on the way to or from school. Youth ages 12 through 18
were first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things they did
not want to do (e.g., give them money)?” This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because
other students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?” This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied
includes youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students ages 12–18 is 24,315,000.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey,
2001.
Self-reports of grades
Table S6. Standard errors for Table 6. Percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported carrying a weapon
for protection or being involved in a physical fight at school during the previous 6 months, by
reports of being bullied directly and/or indirectly at school: 2001
Victim behaviors Carried a weapon Involved in a physical fight
Total 0.19 0.26
Not Bullied 0.18 0.22
Bullied 0.69 1.12
Both Directly and Indirectly 1.08 2.06
Directly Only 1.18 2.38
Indirectly Only 0.96 1.44
NOTE: Students included as carrying weapons reported carrying a gun, knife or other weapon to school in the 6 months prior to the survey.
“At school” includes inside the school building, on school property, or on the way to or from school. Youth ages 12 through 18 were
first asked if “they had been bullied at school. That is, had anyone picked on them a lot or tried to make them do things they did not
want to do (e.g., give them money)?” This is referred to as direct bullying. They were also asked, “Have you felt rejected because other
students have made fun of you, called you names, or excluded you from activities?” This is referred to as indirect bullying. Total bullied includes
youth who reported they were bullied directly or indirectly. Population size for students ages 12–18 is 24,315,000.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey,
2001.
31
Appendix D:
2001 School Crime Supplement
to the National Crime Victimization
Survey Instrument

Now I have some additional questions about your school. These answers will be kept
confidential, by law.
ASK OF ALL PERSONS 12–18.
Sample
J_____
Control number
PSU
FORMSCS-1
(10-31-2000)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Economics and Statistics Administration
U.S. CENSUS BUREAU
ACTING AS COLLECTING AGENT FOR THE
BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
A. FR code B. Respondent
Line No.
C. Type of SCS Interview
1
2
3
4
Personal – Self
Telephone – Self
Personal – Proxy
Telephone – Proxy
SKIP to INTRO 1
D. Reason for SCS noninterview
Type Z noninterview on NCVS
SCS noninterview
Refused
Not available
FIELD REPRESENTATIVE –Read introduction.
INTRO 1 –
E. SCREEN QUESTIONS FOR SUPPLEMENT
1a.
Segment CK Serial
004
002 003
Age
001
Name
005 1
2
3
4 Physically or mentally unable and no
proxy available
006 1
2
Yes
No – END INTERVIEW
SKIP to
INTRO 2
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
SCHOOL CRIME SUPPLEMENT
TO THE NATIONAL CRIME
VICTIMIZATION SURVEY
2001
007
OMB No. 1121-0184: Approval Expires 11/30/2001
1
2
092
5 Noninterview – FILL ITEM D
NOTICE – We are conducting this survey under the authority of Title 13, United States Code, Section 8. Section 9 of this law requires us to keep all
information about you and your household strictly confidential. We may use this information only for statistical purposes. Also, Title 42, Section
3732, United States Code, authorizes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Department of Justice, to collect information using this survey. Title 42, Sections
3789g and 3735, United States Code also requires us to keep all information about you and your household strictly confidential.
We estimate that it will take from 5 to 15 minutes to complete this interview with
10 minutes being the average time. If you have any comments regarding these
estimates or any other aspect of this survey, send them to the Associate Director
for Finance and Administration, Room 2027, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington DC
20233, or to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of
Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503. According to the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of
information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number.
FIELD REPRESENTATIVE – Complete an SCS-1 form for all
persons 12-18 in all interviewed households even when
that person is a Type Z noninterview. Do NOT complete an
SCS-1 form for persons 12-18 if the household is a Type A.
Did you attend school at any time during the
last 6 months, that is, any time since
During that time, were you ever homeschooled?
That is, did you receive ANY
of that schooling at home, rather than in
a public or private school?
Yes
No –SKIP to 2b
Was ALL or SOME of that home schooling? All –END INTERVIEW
Some
During the last 6 months, that is, any time
since ____________________ 1st, if you were in a
public or private school, what grade would
you be in?
Fifth or under – END INTERVIEW
Sixth
Seventh
Eighth
Ninth
Tenth
Eleventh
Twelfth
Other –Specify
College/GED/Post-graduate/
Other noneligible – END INTERVIEW
During the last 6 months, that is, any time
since ____________________ 1st, what grade
were you in school?
1st?
1b.
1c.
2a.
2b.
1
2
093

SKIP
to 3
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Fifth or under – END INTERVIEW
Sixth
Seventh
Eighth
Ninth
Tenth
Eleventh
Twelfth
Other –Specify
College/GED/Post-graduate/
Other noneligible – END INTERVIEW
008

E. SCREEN QUESTIONS FOR SUPPLEMENT – Continued
009 1
2
3
Pre-K or Kindergarten 00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12 H.S. Senior
20 All ungraded
30 All Special Education
Grades:
020
TO
021
Page 2
(lowest)
(highest)
13 Post-graduate
FORM SCS-1 (10-31-2000)
F. ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS
City
Office Use Only
Office Use Only
012
014
015
FIELD REPRESENTATIVE –Probe, if necessary.
013
What is the complete name of your school?
In what city, county, and state is your school
located?
Is your school public or private?
Is this your regularly assigned school or a
school that you or your family chose?
Is your school church-related?
Is your school Catholic?
Public –ASK 7b
Private –SKIP to 7c
Yes –ASK 7d
No –SKIP to 8
Don’t know –ASK 7d
Yes, Catholic
No, other religion
What grades are taught in your school?
FIELD REPRESENTATIVE –Read introduction only if any of the boxes 1– 8 are marked in item 2a.
INTRO 2 – The following questions pertain only to your attendance at a public or private school and
not to being home-schooled.
In what month did your current school year
begin?
August
September
Other – Specify
Did you attend school for all of the last 6
months?
Yes –SKIP to 6a
No
How many months were you in school during
the last 6 months?
One month
Two months
Three months
Four months
Five months
3.
4. 010
011
1
2
5. 1
2
3
4
5
016
017
1
2
1
2
3
018 1
2
3
019 1
2
6a.
6b.
7a.
7b.
7c.
7d.
8.
How do you get to school most of the time? 022
FIELD REPRESENTATIVE – If multiple modes are
used, code the mode in which the student spends
the most time.
Walk
School bus
Public bus, subway, train
Car
Bicycle, motorbike, or motorcycle
Some other way –Specify
9. 1
2
3
4
5
6
SKIP
to 8
 Assigned
Chosen
Assigned school is school of choice
State
County
Office Use Only
FORM SCS-1 (10-31-2000) Page 3
F. ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS – Continued
Yes No DK
1 2 3
1 2 3
1 2 3
1 2 3
1 2 3
1 2 3
1 2 3
1 2 3
How long does it take you to get from your
home to school most of the time?
Less than 15 minutes
15-29 minutes
30-44 minutes
45-59 minutes
60 minutes or longer
How do you get home from school most of
the time?
FIELD REPRESENTATIVE – If multiple modes are
used, code the mode in which the student spends
the most time.
If the student volunteers that he or she does not go
directly home after school, record the mode that
the student uses to get to his or her first
destination after school.
During the last 6 months, have you
participated in any extra-curricular activities
sponsored by your school?
How often do you leave school grounds at
lunch time?
(READ CATEGORIES.)
Yes
No
Never
Once or twice a year
Once or twice a month
Once or twice a week
Almost every day
Does your school take any measures to
ensure the safety of students?
For example, does the school have:
Security guards and/or assigned police
officers?
Other school staff or other adults
supervising the hallway?
Metal detectors?
Locked entrance or exit doors during the
day?
Locker checks?
A requirement that students wear badges
or picture identification?
One or more security cameras to monitor
the school?
A code of student conduct, that is, a set of
written rules or guidelines that the school
provides you?
10. 023
11.
1
2
3
4
5
024 Walk
School bus
Public bus, subway, train
Car
Bicycle, motorbike, or motorcycle
Some other way – Specify
1
2
3
4
5
6
027 1
2
026
13.
12b. 1
2
3
4
5
14.
1 2 3
028
029
030
031
032
033
094
095
096
I am going to read a list of statements that
could describe a school. Thinking about your
school over the last 6 months, would you
strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly
disagree with the following...
Everyone knows what the school rules
are
The school rules are fair
The punishment for breaking school rules
is the same no matter who you are
The school rules are strictly enforced
If a school rule is broken, students know
what kind of punishment will follow
During the last 6 months, that is, since
_______________ 1st, have you attended any
drug education classes in your school?
039 1
2
3
15.
Yes
No
Don’t know
Strongly
Agree Agree Disagree Strongly
Disagree
034 1 2 3 4
038
036
037
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
035
16.
A requirement that visitors sign in?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Are most students at your school allowed to
leave the school grounds to eat lunch?
Yes
No
Don’t know
025 1
2
3
12a.
Page 4 FORM SCS-1 (10-31-2000)
F. ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS – Continued
FIELD REPRESENTATIVE –Read introduction.
INTRO 3 – Now I have some more questions about things that happened at school. For this survey, "at
school" includes the school building, on school property, on a school bus, or going to and
from school. I want to remind you that all of your answers are confidential.
The following question refers to the
availability of drugs and alcohol at your
school.
Tell me if you don’t know what any of these
items are.
FIELD REPRESENTATIVE – For each item ask,
Is it possible to get _________________________
at your school?
FIELD REPRESENTATIVE –Refer to Drug Slang Cards
(SCS-2a and SCS-2b). Reclassify the "other illegal
drug(s)" to one of the categories a-i if possible. If
able to reclassify the drug(s) mentioned, mark the
"No" box in category j, otherwise, mark the "Yes"
box in category j and enter the "other illegal drug(s)"
mentioned in the Specify space.
FIELD REPRESENTATIVE –For each YES response in
17a ask the drug, otherwise mark NA for each
category not marked YES in 17a.
Would you say _______________________ (is/are)
easy, fairly easy, fairly hard, or hard to get at
your school?
During the last 6 months, did you know for
sure that any students were on drugs or
alcohol while they were at school?
During the last 6 months, did anyone offer, or
try to sell or give you an illegal drug other
than alcohol or tobacco at your school?
Yes No DK DK drug
Alcoholic beverages
Marijuana
Crack
Other forms of cocaine
Uppers such as ecstasy, crystal meth, or
other illegal stimulants
Downers such as GHB or sleeping pills
040 1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
PCP or angel dust 1 2 3 4
Other illegal drugs –
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4
Easy
Fairly
Easy
Fairly
Hard Hard NA
Alcoholic beverages
Marijuana
Crack
Other forms of cocaine
Uppers such as ecstasy, crystal meth, or
other illegal stimulants
Downers such as GHB or sleeping pills
PCP or angel dust
049 1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
Heroin or smack
Other illegal drugs
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
Specify
(Exclude tobacco products.)
048
17a.
101 1
2
Yes
No
102 1
2
Yes
No
G. FIGHTING, BULLYING AND HATE BEHAVIORS
18a.
18b.
During the last 6 months, have you been in
one or more physical fights at school?
During the last 6 months, how many times
have you been in a physical fight at school?
103 1
2
Yes
No –SKIP to 19
104 (Number of times)
041
042
043
097
045
046
047
050
051
052
100
054
055
056
057
17b.
17c.
17d.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
h.
j.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
h.
i.
j.
g. LSD or acid
i. Heroin or smack
If "Yes" is marked, ASK –What drugs?
1 2 3 4
098
g. LSD or acid
099 1 2 3 4 5
FORM SCS-1 (10-31-2000) Page 5
G. FIGHTING, BULLYING AND HATE BEHAVIORS – Continued
106
Yes No DK
107 1 2 3
1 2 3
1 2 3
1 2 3
1 2 3
1 2 3
During the last 6 months, have you been
bullied at school? That is, has anyone picked
on you a lot or tried to make you do things
you didn’t want to do like give them money?
(You may include incidents you reported
before.)
During the last 6 months, how often have you
been made fun of, called names, or excluded
from activities?
Were any of the hate-related words related
to ...
Your race?
Your religion?
Your ethnic background or national origin
(for example people of Hispanic origin)?
Any disability (by this I mean physical,
mental, or developmental disabilities) you
may have?
Your gender?
Your sexual orientation?
If "Yes," SAY –(by this I mean homosexual,
bisexual, or heterosexual)
During the last 6 months, has anyone called
you a derogatory or bad name at school
having to do with your race, religion, ethnic
background or national origin, disability,
gender, or sexual orientation? We call these
hate-related words.
H. AVOIDANCE
During the last 6 months, that is, since
____________________ 1st, did you STAY AWAY
from any of the following places because you
thought someone might attack or threaten to
attack you there?
(READ CATEGORIES.)
The shortest route to school?
The entrance into the school?
Any hallways or stairs in school?
Parts of the school cafeteria?
Any school restrooms?
Other places inside the school building?
School parking lot?
Other places on school grounds?
068 1
Yes
2
No
1 2
1 2
1 2
1 2
1 2
1 2
1 2
19.
21a.
105
20b. 1
2
3
4
Once or twice in the last 6 months
Once or twice a month
Once or twice a week, or
Almost every day
1
2
Yes
No–SKIP to 22
110
111
112
108
109
Did you AVOID any extra-curricular activities
at your school because you thought someone
might attack or threaten to attack you?
076 1
2
Yes
No
23a.
069
070
071
072
073
074
075
065
23b.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
During the last 6 months, have you often felt
rejected by other students at school? For
example, have you felt rejected because other
students have made fun of you, called you
names, or excluded you from activities?
20a.
067 1
2
Yes
No
(READ CATEGORIES.)
During the last 6 months, have you seen any
hate-related words or symbols written in
school classrooms, school bathrooms, school
hallways, or on the outside of your school
building?
22. 066 1
2
Yes
No
21b.
1
2
Yes
No–SKIP to 21a
I. WEAPONS
Yes
No
Don’t know
Page 6 FORM SCS-1 (10-31-2000)
H. AVOIDANCE - Continued
079
1
2
Yes
No
J. GANGS
24.
080
23c.
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
090 1
2
3
How often are you afraid that someone will
attack or threaten to attack you at school?
(READ CATEGORIES.)
Never
Almost never
Sometimes
Most of the time
Did you AVOID any classes because you
thought someone might attack or threaten to
attack you?
(READ CATEGORIES.)
Never
Almost never
Sometimes
Most of the time
Besides the times you are at school, or going
to or from school, how often are you afraid
that someone will attack or threaten to attack
you?
(READ CATEGORIES.)
Never
Almost never
Sometimes
Most of the time
26. 1
2
3
4
Some people bring guns, knives or objects
that can be used as weapons to school for
protection. During the last 6 months, that is,
since __________________ 1st, did you ever bring
a gun to school or onto school grounds?
During the last 6 months, did you ever bring a
knife to school or onto school grounds?
Include only knives brought as weapons.
During the last 6 months, did you ever bring
some other weapon to school or onto school
grounds?
Do you know any (other) students who have
brought a gun to your school in the last 6
months?
Have you actually seen another student with a
gun at school in the last 6 months?
During the last 6 months, could you have
gotten a loaded gun without adult
supervision, either at school or away from
school?
We’d like to know about gangs at your school. You may know these as street gangs, fighting
gangs, crews, or something else. Gangs may use common names, signs, symbols, or colors.
For this survey, we are interested in all gangs, whether or not they are involved in violent or
illegal activity.
Are there any gangs at your school?
During the last 6 months, that is, since
____________________ 1st, how often have gangs
been involved in fights, attacks, or other
violence at your school?
(READ CATEGORIES 1–5.)
Never
Once or twice in the last 6 months
Once or twice a month
Once or twice a week, or
Almost every day
Don’t know
Have gangs been involved in the sale of drugs
at your school in the last 6 months?
27a.
27b.
27c.
28a.
28b.
29.
081
083
084
085
086
113
1
2
3
Yes
No
Don’t know
1
2
Yes
No
1
2
Yes
No
1
2
Yes
No
1
2
Yes
No
FIELD REPRESENTATIVE –Read introduction.
INTRO 4 –
058 1
2
3
Yes
No
Don’t know
089 1
2
3
4
5
6
30.
31.
32.
077
25. How often are you afraid that someone will
attack or threaten to attack you on the way to
and from school?
1
2
Yes
No
082
1
2
Yes
No
23d. Did you stay home from school because you
thought someone might attack or threaten to
attack you at school, or going to or from
school?
078
FORM SCS-1 (10-31-2000) Page 7
35.
116
1
2
3
Thinking about the future, do you think you
will....
a. Attend school after high school?
b. Graduate from a 4-year college?
CHECK
ITEM A Were the supplement questions
asked in private, or was an adult
member of the household or family
present during at least part of the
questions?
If not sure or if a telephone interview,
ask –
Was an adult member of the
household or family present
during at least part of these
questions?
A’s
B’s
C’s
D’s
F’s
School does not give grades/no alphabetic
grade equivalent
CHECK
ITEM B
(Number of days)
Yes – END SUPPLEMENT
No – Interview next household member
Yes
No –SKIP to 34
Don’t know – SKIP to 34
No DK
1 2 3
118 1 2 3
–SKIP to
CHECK ITEM A
114
K. STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS
34. During this school year, across all subjects
have you gotten mostly -
(READ CATEGORIES 1-5.)
117
091 1
2
3
4
5
Personal interview – No adult present
Personal interview – Adult present
Telephone interview – No adult present
Telephone interview – Adult present
Telephone interview – Don’t know
33a. During the last 4 weeks, did you skip any
classes?
Is this the last household member to
be interviewed?
33b. During the last 4 weeks, on how many days 115
did you skip at least one class?
1
2
3
4
5
6
Yes