A 2024 survey shows that bullying in junior high and high schools has decreased by nearly 30% compared to the previous year. The Child Welfare League Foundation released the results on Monday, calling for continued strengthening of support in schools even with the reported improvement.
The survey collected information from more than 16,000 junior high and high school students across Taiwan. Data showed that verbal bullying was the most common, accounting for 64.9%, followed by relational bullying, accounting for 24.5%. Relational bullying is a type of aggression in which harm is caused by damaging someone's relationships or social status.
The foundation noted that, on a scale of 1 to 10, surveyed students gave an average score of 4.9 for the severity of school bullying, though 12.8% of the students gave the most severe score of 10, indicating that school bullying in Taiwan is still very serious.
School bullying causes profound and multifaceted psychological trauma. The survey details that the average student experienced 2 to 3 incidents per year. Of these victims, 53.1% said they felt isolated, 48.6% reported damaged self-esteem, and nearly 25% admitted to thoughts of self-harm.
The results indicate that children going through life changes are at high risk for bullying. About 4.9% of students have dealt with traumas such as parental divorce or death, family members with mental illness, verbal violence or physical abuse from a caretaker, or even sexual assault. These individuals are far more likely to bully others or be bullied than those with fewer traumatic experiences.
The Child Welfare League Foundation survey additionally revealed that in schools with higher social environment scores, the proportion of students being bullied was only 6.6%, compared to 24.3% in schools with lower social environment scores, a difference of nearly fourfold. The foundation explained that the social environment scores refer to various support tools and services, such as counseling and training, and called on the government to continue the implementation and strengthening of resources in schools.