School Teasing and Bullying After the Presidential Election

• In Event: Identity-Based Bullying and Bias in Secondary Schools

Abstract

In response to media reports of increased sexual and racial bullying in schools following the U.S. presidential election, we investigated the prevalence of teasing and bullying with a Virginia school climate survey completed by approximately 155,000 7th and 8th grade students in 2013, 2015, and 2017. In 2017 there were higher rates related to students being teased due to their race or sexual orientation associated with voter preference for the Republican presidential candidate in the school locality. Adjusted prevalence rates indicate that bullying was 14.8% higher in divisions where the Republican candidate won and differences were not statistically significant prior to the election. These results provide indirect support for educator concerns about rates of bullying since the 2016 presidential election.

Authors

• Francis Howard Lim Huang, University of Missouri

• Dewey G. Cornell, University of Virginia