School bullying spiked after pandemic ended, says DiNapoli

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli during a news conference in 2016. Photo: Mike Groll/AP

STATEWIDE — OPEN BULLYING IS ON THE RISE, even exceeding pre-pandemic highs, says a new report released on Monday, Feb. 2 from state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

The report examined seven years of data, both statewide and for NYC, from the New York State Education Department’s School Safety and Educational Climate report. Bullying is the most frequently reported SSEC incident category. Reported bullying rates in New York City were on the rise before dropping sharply during the pandemic. After schools returned to full in-person learning, reported bullying incidents in New York City rose rapidly from 10.5 incidents per 1,000 pupils in SY 2019-20 (before the pandemic shutdown in March 2020) to 25.8 in SY 2023-24, which saw the most dramatic spike.

Statewide, in-person bullying constituted 61.8% of all incidents reported, with a total of 29,718 bullying incidents reported, resulting in a rate of 12.4 incidents per 1,000 pupils. The uptick coincides with revisions in the Regulations of the Chancellor in 2021, which added examples of bullying and harassment and provided additional guidance on cyberbullying, among other matters.

However, the SSEC data cyberbullying incident rates are very low, attributable to the possibility that many cyberbullying incidents go unreported because they are difficult to detect and anonymous.

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