A Growing Gender Gap: Bullying Rates Rise Faster Among Girls – Latest

Bullying Rates Rise Faster Among Girls

For decades, the archetypal image of a bully has been a boy pushing a smaller classmate against the lockers or stealing their lunch money. This physical, overt aggression has long been the primary focus of anti-bullying programs and classroom discussions. However, a quiet but powerful shift has been occurring in school hallways, digital spaces, and social circles—a shift that the latest data confirms is both alarming and disproportionately affecting young girls.

A growing body of research from institutions like the CDC, the NIH, and leading educational psychologists is painting a concerning new picture. While bullying remains a critical issue for all youth, the rates of bullying victimization and perpetration among girls are rising at a significantly faster pace than among boys. This isn’t just about a rise in numbers; it’s about a fundamental evolution in how bullying manifests. The playground shove is being eclipsed by the whispered rumor, the social exclusion, the manipulated photograph, and the anonymous hate message.

Teach Educator

This emerging gender gap in bullying represents a silent crisis with profound implications for the mental health, academic achievement, and social development of an entire generation of girls. For educators, administrators, and school counsellors at teacheducator.com, understanding this trend is no longer optional—it is imperative. The traditional tools designed to stop a fistfight are woefully inadequate against the nuanced, psychologically devastating tactics of modern bullying.

This comprehensive analysis will delve into the latest statistics, unpack the complex social and psychological drivers behind this trend, explore the unique role of social media as an accelerant, and most importantly, provide educators with evidence-based strategies to identify, prevent, and intervene in this growing crisis. The schoolyard has expanded into the digital realm, and our approaches to safeguarding our students must evolve with it.

Section 1: Unveiling the Data – The Statistical Evidence of a Growing Divide

To understand the scope of the problem, we must first examine the hard numbers. Multiple longitudinal studies and national surveys have begun to highlight this disturbing divergence between male and female bullying experiences.

Key Findings from the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s YRBS is one of the most reliable sources for tracking health behaviors and experiences among American high school students. Recent analyses of their data reveal critical insights:

• Relational Aggression Prevalence: While boys still report higher rates of physical bullying, girls consistently report significantly higher levels of relational or social bullying. This includes being purposefully excluded from a group, having rumors spread about them, or being targeted with malicious gossip.
• Cyberbullying Disparity: The gap widens dramatically in the digital space. Studies citing YRBS data indicate that adolescent girls are up to twice as likely as boys to report being victims of cyberbullying. They are also more likely to be perpetrators of online harassment.
• Mental Health Correlations: The data shows a stronger correlation for girls between bullying victimization and adverse mental health outcomes like depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and self-harm. This suggests the type of aggression they face may have a uniquely damaging psychological impact.

Academic Research and Longitudinal Studies

Beyond the YRBS, academic research provides deeper context:

• A 2022 study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry analyzed bullying trends over a 10-year period across 40 schools. It found that while physical bullying rates had slightly declined for boys, instances of relational aggression had increased steadily, with the rise being statistically significant among middle-school-aged girls.
• Research from the University of Georgia found that adolescent girls are more likely to use bullying behaviors to maintain social status and hierarchy within their peer group. This instrumental use of aggression differentiates it from the more reactive aggression often seen in boys.
• Data on bullying perpetration is also shifting. Traditionally, boys were more likely to be identified as bullies. However, when definitions of bullying expand to include relational and cyber forms, the gender gap in perpetration narrows considerably and, in some age groups, reverses.

Interpreting the Numbers: What Does “Faster” Really Mean?

It’s crucial to understand what is meant by “rising faster.” This does not necessarily mean that more girls are bullied than boys in absolute terms across all categories. Rather, it means that the rate of increase in reported incidents—particularly of non-physical bullying—is more pronounced among girls. For example:

• If physical bullying for boys decreased by 5% over five years but relational bullying for girls increased by 15% over the same period, the trendline for girls is rising faster, indicating a growing and evolving problem that demands specific attention.

This data collectively signals a clear call to action: anti-bullying initiatives that fail to account for gender differences in bullying expression and experience are missing a critical part of the puzzle.

Beyond the Playground – Understanding the Forms of Bullying Among Girls

To effectively address this issue, educators must move beyond simplistic definitions of bullying. The aggression employed by girls is often covert, sophisticated, and difficult for adults to detect.

Relational Aggression: The Weaponization of Friendship

Relational aggression is the cornerstone of bullying among girls. It is a non-physical form of bullying that uses relationships and social standing as a weapon. Its goal is to damage the victim’s social connections and sense of belonging. Key tactics include:

• Social Exclusion: Deliberately leaving one person out of a group, activity, or conversation. (“You can’t sit with us.”)
• Rumor Spreading and Gossip: Maliciously sharing false or embarrassing information to damage a peer’s reputation.
• The “Silent Treatment”: Ignoring a person completely to make them feel invisible and powerless.
• Conditional Friendship: Using the threat of withdrawal of friendship to control and manipulate a peer’s behavior.
• Alliance Building: Coercing others to take sides against a victim, creating a powerful “us vs. them” dynamic.

This form of bullying is so effective because it attacks the core developmental need of adolescence: to belong to a social group. For girls, whose identities are often intensely tied to their friendships and social networks, this type of aggression can feel like a total annihilation of the self.

Cyberbullying: The Digital Amplifier

Cyberbullying is not merely bullying that happens online; it is a distinct phenomenon that amplifies and extends relational aggression. For girls, the digital world provides a potent new arena for social conflict. Common forms include:

• Anonymous Trolling and Hate Accounts: Creating fake profiles to send abusive messages or post harmful content without accountability.
• Body Shaming and Image Manipulation: Criticizing a girl’s appearance or digitally altering and sharing her photos without consent.
• Exclusion from Digital Groups: Being deliberately left out of group chats (e.g., on WhatsApp, Snapchat, or Discord) where social plans are made and conversations happen.
• Public Shaming and “Call-Out” Culture: Using social media platforms to publicly humiliate someone for a perceived social transgression.
• Fraping: Hacking into a social media account to post inappropriate content as the victim, damaging their reputation.

The 24/7 nature of cyberbullying means there is no safe refuge. The harassment follows the victim home, into their bedroom, and onto the screen of the device they feel they cannot live without. The audience is vast and permanent, as screenshots can live on forever, making the humiliation inescapable.

Why the Discrepancy? Psychological and Social Underpinnings

The reasons girls may gravitate towards these non-physical forms of aggression are complex and rooted in socialization and biology.

• Socialization and Gender Norms: From a young age, girls are often socialized to be “nice,” cooperative, and to avoid direct confrontation and physical aggression. Relational aggression becomes a “socially acceptable” way to express anger, jealousy, or a desire for power within the constraints of these gender norms. It is a way to compete and dominate without breaking the “be nice” rule.
• Developmental Priorities: Adolescent girls often place an extremely high value on intimate, close friendships and social status. When these priorities are threatened, the defense of them can become aggressive. Conflict arises not from toys or territory, but from perceived betrayals, social slights, and competition for friendship.
• Theory of Mind: Some research suggests that girls, on average, develop advanced “theory of mind” skills—the ability to understand the mental states of others—slightly earlier than boys. While this is a foundation for empathy, it can also be weaponized to understand exactly how to inflict the most effective social and psychological pain on a peer.

Understanding these forms and their motivations is the first step for educators in learning to “see” the bullying that often happens right under their noses, hidden in plain sight.

The Roots of the Crisis – Why is This Happening?

The rise in bullying rates among girls is not happening in a vacuum. It is the product of a perfect storm of societal, technological, and cultural factors.

The Social Media Catalyst

While not the sole cause, social media is the single greatest accelerant of this trend. It perfectly facilitates the forms of aggression girls are socialized to use.

• Anonymity and Disinhibition: The online disinhibition effect allows individuals to say and do things they would never do face-to-face. The lack of immediate emotional feedback (seeing someone cry) removes a natural barrier to cruelty.
• Permanence and Virality: A cruel message can be screenshotted and spread to hundreds of people in minutes, creating a sense of overwhelming and inescapable humiliation. The digital footprint is permanent.
• The Performance of Perfection: Platforms like Instagram and TikTok create immense pressure to curate a perfect life, body, and social circle. This environment fuels social comparison, jealousy, and insecurity—the very emotions that underpin much of relational aggression.
• The Quantification of Social Status: Likes, followers, and comments become public metrics of popularity and social worth. Girls who feel their status is threatened may lash out to knock others down a peg.

Evolving Societal and Cultural Pressures

• Increased Academic and Extracurricular Pressure: Girls today face immense pressure to excel academically, be star athletes, and build a perfect college resume. This constant state of high-stakes competition can spill over into social relationships, viewing peers not as friends but as rivals to be outperformed and undermined.
• Early Sexualization and Body Image Issues: Girls are exposed to idealized and sexualized images of women at increasingly young ages. This hyper-focus on appearance creates a prime target for bullying (body shaming) and a source of deep insecurity that can manifest as aggression towards those perceived as a threat.
• Erosion of Civil Discourse: The models of public discourse that children see—in politics, media, and celebrity culture—often prioritize humiliation, “owning” opponents, and divisive rhetoric over empathy and respectful disagreement. Children mimic what they see.

The COVID-19 Pandemic: A Disruptive Amplifier

The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns acted as a bizarre social experiment that exacerbated existing trends.

• Social Skill Erosion: During critical developmental periods, many kids were isolated from their peers. They missed out on the day-to-day practice of navigating complex social interactions, reading facial cues, and resolving conflicts in person.
• Increased Reliance on Digital Communication: When in-person interaction was cut off, social life moved entirely online. This dramatically increased both the opportunity for and the impact of cyberbullying.
• Heightened Anxiety and Stress: The general atmosphere of fear, uncertainty, and family stress during the pandemic elevated baseline levels of anxiety and depression among youth. This mental health crisis lowered thresholds for aggression and reduced resilience in the face of bullying.

The Devastating Impact: More Than Just “Drama”

It is a grave mistake to dismiss relational aggression and cyberbullying as mere “drama” or a normal rite of passage. The psychological consequences are severe and long-lasting.

Mental and Emotional Health Consequences

Victims of this form of bullying are at a significantly higher risk for:

• Depression and Anxiety: The constant stress of social rejection and humiliation can lead to clinical depression and debilitating anxiety disorders.
• Suicidal Ideation and Self-Harm: Numerous studies have drawn a direct link between cyberbullying victimization and an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The feeling of being utterly alone and publicly shamed can feel inescapable.
• Social Isolation and Loneliness: Victims often withdraw, finding it difficult to trust anyone for fear of further betrayal.
• Somatic Symptoms: The psychological stress frequently manifests as physical ailments like headaches, stomachaches, and sleep disturbances.
• Academic Decline: The mental preoccupation with the bullying leads to an inability to concentrate, missing school to avoid tormentors, and a resulting drop in grades.

Impact on Perpetrators and Bystanders

• The Perpetrators: Girls who bully others are not unscathed. They are more likely to exhibit antisocial behaviors, have difficulty maintaining healthy relationships in adulthood, and are at a higher risk for substance abuse. Their behavior is often a sign of their own profound insecurity and unhappiness.
• The Bystanders: Those who witness bullying experience a state of moral conflict. They may feel guilt and shame for not intervening, fear of becoming the next target, and a general desensitization to cruelty, which shapes their own moral development.

Long-Term Scars

The effects do not magically disappear after high school. Adults who were bullied in these ways as children often report:

• Lingering trust issues and difficulty forming close friendships.
• Lower self-esteem and a negative self-concept.
• Increased risk for psychiatric disorders well into adulthood.

Understanding this profound impact is essential for motivating a whole-school response. This is not a minor issue; it is a critical threat to student well-being.

The Educator’s Toolkit: Strategies for Prevention and Intervention

Schools and teachers are on the front lines of this battle. A multi-layered approach that includes prevention, early identification, clear intervention protocols, and post-incident support is essential. Here is a comprehensive toolkit for educators and administrators.

Creating a Culture of Connection and Respect (Prevention)

The goal is to build a school climate where bullying is less likely to take root.

• Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Integration: Weave SEL into the curriculum, not as an add-on, but as a core subject. Focus on:
  • Empacy Building: Use literature, role-playing, and discussions to help students practice perspective-taking. Ask, “How would you feel if…?”
  • Emotional Literacy: Teach students to identify and name their complex emotions (e.g., envy, insecurity, jealousy) so they can process them healthily instead of acting out.
  • Conflict Resolution: Provide explicit instruction and practice in using “I feel” statements, active listening, and negotiating disagreements respectfully.
• Promote Inclusivity and Celebrate Diversity: Actively work to break down cliques. Use cooperative learning strategies that force different students to work together. Celebrate all kinds of strengths and talents, not just academic or athletic prowess.
• Student Leadership Programs: Train and empower a diverse group of student leaders to model positive behavior, identify social issues, and lead peer-mentoring programs. Students often listen to peers more than adults.

Learning to “See” the Invisible (Identification)

• Professional Development: Train ALL staff—from teachers and aides to bus drivers and cafeteria workers—to recognize the signs of relational aggression and cyberbullying. Signs include:
  • A sudden change in friendship groups.
  • A student who is consistently isolated during group work or lunch.
  • Visible distress after checking a phone or computer.
  • Complaints of headaches or stomachaches to avoid recess or specific classes.
  • Changes in mood, appetite, or academic performance.
• Create Multiple, Safe Reporting Channels: Many students will never report bullying face-to-face. Provide anonymous online reporting systems, a physical “concern box,” and ensure there is a trusted adult (a counselor, a favorite teacher) whom students know they can talk to.

Effective Intervention Protocols (Response)

When bullying is identified, the response must be swift, consistent, and restorative—not just punitive.

• Avoid Simple Punishment: Suspending a bully does not solve the underlying social problem and often exacerbates it. Instead, use a restorative justice approach.
• Implement Restorative Practices: This involves bringing together the affected parties (the perpetrator, the victim, and sometimes bystanders) in a controlled, mediated conversation. The goal is not to shame but to:
  • Have the perpetrator understand the real human impact of their actions.
  • Allow the victim to voice their hurt and feel heard.
  • Collaboratively develop a plan to repair the harm and reintegrate the victim into the social fabric of the school.
• Involve Parents and Guardians: Communicate with parents of both the victim and the perpetrator. Frame it as a collaborative problem-solving mission, not an accusatory one. Provide them with resources and strategies to support their children at home.
• Leverage Technology: If the bullying is cyber-related, work with students to report and remove content based on platform guidelines. Teach digital citizenship as a core skill.

Fostering Digital Citizenship and Literacy

• Direct Instruction: Teach students to be critical consumers of online content, to protect their privacy, to think before they post (the “grandma rule”), and to be “upstanders” who report harmful content and support victims online.
• Partner with Experts: Invite local law enforcement or online safety organizations to speak to students about the legal and lifelong consequences of cyberbullying.

The Critical Role of Parents and Guardians

Schools cannot do this alone. A strong home-school partnership is vital.

• Open Communication: Encourage parents to have ongoing, non-judgmental conversations with their children about their online and offline social lives. “Who did you eat lunch with?” can be more telling than “How was your day?”
• Model Healthy Behavior: Parents must model respectful conflict resolution and mindful technology use at home.
• Establish Digital Boundaries: Work with parents to establish family rules around device usage, such as no phones in the bedroom overnight and shared charging stations in a common area.

Conclusion: A Call to Action for Modern Educators

The data is clear: the landscape of bullying has changed, and a specific, concerning gender gap is emerging. The rise in bullying rates among girls, characterized by relational and cyber aggression, is a complex problem fueled by social media, cultural pressures, and deep-seated developmental needs.

For the educational community at teacheducator.com, this is a call to arms. It demands that we look beyond the traditional paradigms of bullying. It requires us to become literate in the subtle languages of social conflict, to create school cultures where empathy and connection are valued as highly as academic achievement, and to implement interventions that heal rather than simply punish.

By understanding the unique nature of this crisis, equipping ourselves with evidence-based strategies, and forging strong partnerships with parents and students, we can begin to reverse this trend. We can build school environments where every student—especially our girls—feels safe, valued, and empowered to build healthy, supportive relationships both online and off. The mental health and future of our students depend on it.

More Here: PubMed

FAQs: A Growing Gender Gap in Bullying

1. Does this mean girls are “meaner” than boys?

No, this is a dangerous oversimplification. The data does not show that girls are inherently meaner. It shows that due to complex social, cultural, and developmental factors, girls are more likely to express aggression and conflict through relational means (gossip, exclusion) rather than physical means. Their bullying is often a maladaptive response to social pressures and a way to compete for status within the constraints of gender norms that discourage physical confrontation.

2. My school has a strong anti-bullying policy that works for physical fights. Why isn’t it enough?

Traditional policies are often designed for overt, observable incidents like physical bullying. Relational and cyberbullying are covert, often happening in private messages, subtle social exchanges, or outside of school hours. Effective modern policies must include:

• Clear definitions of relational aggression and cyberbullying.
• Protocols for investigating these less-visible incidents.
• Training for staff to identify the signs.
• Restorative, rather than purely punitive, intervention strategies that address the underlying social dynamics.

3. As a teacher, I often hear “it’s just drama” from students. How should I respond?

It is crucial to reframe this language. Respond by explaining the difference between drama (a two-sided conflict or disagreement) and bullying (a repeated, intentional power imbalance where one person is targeted to cause harm). Dismissing harmful behavior as “drama” minimizes the victim’s experience and allows perpetrators to avoid accountability. Teach students this distinction and encourage them to report behavior that feels intentionally harmful, not just annoying.

4. What is the single most important thing I can do in my classroom to prevent this?

Foster a strong, inclusive classroom community from day one. Build a culture where students feel connected to you and to each other. Use cooperative learning, regularly mix up groups and partners, and integrate Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) into your lessons. When students feel a sense of belonging and respect for one another, they are less likely to target each other and more likely to intervene as bystanders.

5. How should I approach a parent about their child either being a victim or a perpetrator of relational bullying?

Approach these conversations with empathy, sensitivity, and a focus on problem-solving.

• For a victim’s parent: Lead with concern for the child’s well-being. Describe the specific behaviors you’ve observed (e.g., “I’ve noticed Sarah seems withdrawn and has been eating lunch alone”) without making definitive diagnoses. Ask if they’ve noticed similar things at home and work together to form a support plan.
• For a perpetrator’s parent: This is more delicate. Avoid accusatory language like “Your child is a bully.” Instead, use neutral language: “I need your help with a situation involving [Student’s name] and another student. It seems there’s some conflict happening where [Student] may have been involved in excluding others/spreading rumors.” Frame it as an opportunity to teach their child better social skills and work together to find a solution.