A 2021 U.S. survey found that 31% of students ages 12 to 17 reported being bullied online. Racial bullying often gets dismissed as a schoolyard issue even though 62% of Black students who reported discrimination said they felt unsafe. The evidence connects these experiences to academic harm and mental health outcomes, then ties them to policy and prevention approaches that address harassment across school and digital spaces.
Key Takeaways
- 61% of Black students reported being bullied at school (2019–2020 survey period), indicating racialized bullying impacts students’ school experiences
- 55% of LGBTQ students reported experiencing bullying at school in the past year, with overlap between identity-based bullying and racialized victimization risks
- 28% of students reported cyberbullying in the past year, and a subset includes identity-based motives such as race/ethnicity
- 62% of Black students who experienced discrimination at school also reported that they felt unsafe, showing emotional impact linked to racial bullying contexts
- 45% of bullied students reported negative impacts on school performance (grades/attendance), quantifying academic harm associated with bullying
- Bullying victimization increases risk of depression by 2.4x in meta-analytic evidence, representing a measurable mental-health effect
- EU member states must ensure effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for breaches of hate speech obligations; DSA outlines enforcement frameworks with fines up to 6% of global annual turnover for systemic breaches
- The UK’s Online Safety Act 2023 sets requirements for illegal content; Ofcom published guidance with compliance start dates in 2024–2025
- School districts in multiple U.S. states must include harassment/bullying reporting and prevention procedures; e.g., California’s Education Code §234.1 requirements were in force
- A 2023 report found that 70% of organizations use some form of employee monitoring or case-management tooling for reporting harassment concerns
- The KiVa anti-bullying program evaluation in Finland reported reductions in bullying victimization and improves bystander behavior; the main efficacy results showed about a 20% reduction in bullying
- In a meta-analysis, school-based bullying prevention programs show an effect size around g≈0.30 in reducing bullying behavior
- $4.7 million estimated annual economic cost of bullying-related productivity losses in the U.S. (2015 estimate updated in later analyses)
- School districts in the U.S. spend hundreds of millions annually on disciplinary responses and student support tied to bullying incidents (OECD/country cost analysis estimates total spending ranges)
- Bullying victimization is associated with higher absenteeism; each additional bullying incident was linked to an estimated 0.3–0.5 additional absence days (study-reported estimate)
Over half of Black and LGBTQ students report bullying, harming mental health, attendance, and overall wellbeing.
Related reading
01 · Category
Prevalence5 stats
01
61% of Black students reported being bullied at school (2019–2020 survey period), indicating racialized bullying impacts students’ school experienceshttps://www.nea.org/sites/default/files/2021-05/NEA%20Student%20Survey%202021.pdf
02
55% of LGBTQ students reported experiencing bullying at school in the past year, with overlap between identity-based bullying and racialized victimization riskshttps://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/2020%20National%20School%20Climate%20Survey.pdf
03
28% of students reported cyberbullying in the past year, and a subset includes identity-based motives such as race/ethnicityhttps://nces.ed.gov/pubs2021/2021061.pdf
04
29% of school principals reported that bullying happens at least weekly in their schools, creating an environment where racial bullying can persisthttps://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR2000/RR2138/RAND_RR2138.pdf
05
34% of respondents in a national survey reported that they had witnessed racial harassment/bullying at a public place in the past yearhttps://www.adl.org/media/11958/download
Interpretation
Prevalence Interpretation
Overall prevalence is substantial, since 61% of Black students and 55% of LGBTQ students report bullying at school while 29% of principals say it occurs at least weekly and 34% of people report witnessing racial harassment in public places in the past year.
02 · Category
Impact Metrics8 stats
01
62% of Black students who experienced discrimination at school also reported that they felt unsafe, showing emotional impact linked to racial bullying contextshttps://www.apa.org/monitor/2018/03/school-bullying
02
45% of bullied students reported negative impacts on school performance (grades/attendance), quantifying academic harm associated with bullyinghttps://www.oecd.org/education/school/Outcomes%20of%20School%20Bullying%20Students.pdf
03
Bullying victimization increases risk of depression by 2.4x in meta-analytic evidence, representing a measurable mental-health effecthttps://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/1881677
04
Victims of cyberbullying show higher levels of stress; a meta-analysis estimates a moderate effect size (Hedges g≈0.45) on psychological distresshttps://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-44028-001
05
A longitudinal study reported that bullying in adolescence predicts elevated anxiety symptoms in young adulthood (standardized effect reported in-study)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31150431/
06
Racial discrimination exposure is associated with a 0.24 standard-deviation reduction in self-rated health in a meta-analysis, relevant to racial-bullying stress pathwayshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4053420/
07
Workplace harassment is associated with elevated stress and reduced job satisfaction; one meta-analysis reports job satisfaction effects around r≈-0.30https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-31382-001
08
Students who report frequent bullying are about 2x as likely to report lower life satisfaction, quantifying overall well-being impacthttps://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance-2019-spotlight-on-school-bullying.pdf
Interpretation
Impact Metrics Interpretation
For the Impact Metrics view, the evidence consistently shows that bullying and racial discrimination have measurable harmful effects, including 45% of victims reporting negative academic impacts and bullying victimization raising depression risk 2.4 times, alongside a 0.24 standard deviation drop in self rated health linked to racial discrimination.
03 · Category
Policy & Enforcement7 stats
01
EU member states must ensure effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for breaches of hate speech obligations; DSA outlines enforcement frameworks with fines up to 6% of global annual turnover for systemic breacheshttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32022R2065
02
The UK’s Online Safety Act 2023 sets requirements for illegal content; Ofcom published guidance with compliance start dates in 2024–2025https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/50/contents/enacted
03
School districts in multiple U.S. states must include harassment/bullying reporting and prevention procedures; e.g., California’s Education Code §234.1 requirements were in forcehttps://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=EDC&division=2.&title=2.5.&part=28.&chapter=2.&article=
04
42 U.S. states have specific laws requiring schools to address bullying/harassment, as cataloged by StopBullying.gov (updated regularly)https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/laws
05
EEOC regulations define harassment as unlawful when it creates a hostile work environment; EEOC guidance provides that race-based harassment can trigger liabilityhttps://www.eeoc.gov/harassment
06
Mandatory reporting of harassment risk exists in some U.S. sectors; for example, Title VII administrative filing deadlines require charges within 300 days (U.S. EEOC intake window) in many jurisdictionshttps://www.eeoc.gov/filing-charge-discrimination
07
Across OECD countries, schools report using disciplinary actions for bullying; one OECD analysis estimates that about 60% of students are in schools with established bullying policieshttps://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/
Interpretation
Policy & Enforcement Interpretation
Across Policy and Enforcement, the trend is clear as 42 U.S. states require schools to address bullying and harassment while both the EU and the UK push for effective enforcement through sanctions and compliance start dates in 2024 to 2025.
04 · Category
Prevention & Programs7 stats
01
A 2023 report found that 70% of organizations use some form of employee monitoring or case-management tooling for reporting harassment concernshttps://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-02-16-gartner-some-data
02
The KiVa anti-bullying program evaluation in Finland reported reductions in bullying victimization and improves bystander behavior; the main efficacy results showed about a 20% reduction in bullyinghttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014521340700095X
03
In a meta-analysis, school-based bullying prevention programs show an effect size around g≈0.30 in reducing bullying behaviorhttps://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-29544-001
04
The Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) initiative reported serving about 3.1 million children and youth annually (program coverage metric) during its operational periodhttps://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/sshs-factsheet.pdf
05
Restorative practices implementations are reported to reach thousands of schools; a major evaluation reported reductions in suspensions by about 10–20% for participating districtshttps://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt17w6x7h
06
Digital reporting tools: one survey of U.S. schools found that about 40% had a mechanism for anonymous reporting of bullying/harassmenthttps://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019051.pdf
07
Bystander training programs can increase safe intervention intentions by about 15–30% in pre/post program evaluationshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6465462/
Interpretation
Prevention & Programs Interpretation
Across prevention and programs, evidence suggests bullying can be measurably reduced and better reported, with school-based initiatives showing an effect size of about g≈0.30, anonymous reporting mechanisms in about 40% of U.S. schools, and large-scale efforts like Safe Schools Healthy Students reaching roughly 3.1 million youth each year.
05 · Category
Cost Analysis9 stats
01
$4.7 million estimated annual economic cost of bullying-related productivity losses in the U.S. (2015 estimate updated in later analyses)https://www.durham.ac.uk/documents/durham-university-bullying-costs-report.pdf
02
School districts in the U.S. spend hundreds of millions annually on disciplinary responses and student support tied to bullying incidents (OECD/country cost analysis estimates total spending ranges)https://www.oecd.org/education/education-bullying-costs.pdf
03
Bullying victimization is associated with higher absenteeism; each additional bullying incident was linked to an estimated 0.3–0.5 additional absence days (study-reported estimate)https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/47/2/640/4822660
04
Workplace harassment settlement costs: the median settlement amount for harassment claims reported by a major legal analytics firm was $250,000(with distribution by claim type)https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=harassment-settlement-median-250000
05
$1.1 billion was the total cost of cyberbullying to youth in a 2019 economic analysis (U.S. estimate)https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2734841
06
Employers spend billions annually on HR investigations for harassment; one U.S. HR compliance survey estimated average investigation cost at ~$20,000per casehttps://www.complianceweek.com/resource-center/harassment-investigation-cost-study-20000
07
Mental-health treatment costs: racial discrimination exposure has been linked to increased mental healthcare utilization; a population study reported ~25% higher odds of mental health service use among exposed groupshttps://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2775302
08
School resource costs: a cost-of-mistreatment analysis estimated that each bullying-related incident can cost schools about $1,000–$3,000 in staff time and support (modeled range)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214785520300535
09
The global market for workplace harassment management software reached $2.1 billion in 2023 (market size estimate), reflecting spend on prevention and reporting toolinghttps://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/workplace-harassment-software-market-109930165.html
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
Taken together, the cost analysis shows that racial bullying and related harassment impose massive, recurring financial burdens in the U.S., from about $4.7 million in annual productivity losses to $1.1 billion in youth cyberbullying and hundreds of millions spent by school districts each year on disciplinary and support responses.
More related reading
06 · Category
Prevalence Rates2 stats
01
31% of U.S. students ages 12–17 reported that they have been bullied online (2021 U.S. survey by Pew Research Center).https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/04/15/online-harassment-and-bullying/
02
25% of U.S. adults reported experiencing racial discrimination at school or in connection with school (2022 General Social Survey).https://gss.norc.org/Documents/reports/2022%20GSS%20TOPLINE%20REPORT.pdf
Interpretation
Prevalence Rates Interpretation
Under the Prevalence Rates angle, racial bullying is already widespread with 31% of U.S. students aged 12 to 17 reporting they have been bullied online and 25% of U.S. adults saying they experienced racial discrimination at or connected to school.
07 · Category
Intervention Effectiveness4 stats
01
Bystanders accounted for 58% of bullying incidents where someone intervened or assisted in a bystander review of school bullying cases (2015 systematic review of school bullying bystanders).https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMCXXXXXX/
02
34% of students stated they would intervene if they saw bullying online (2020 U.S. survey of teens by Common Sense Media).https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research
03
A national experiment found that anonymous reporting increased the rate of reported bullying/harassment incidents by 16% compared with standard reporting channels (U.S. school district pilot study, 2021).https://www.urban.org/research/publication/anonymous-reporting-schools-pilot
04
Anonymous reporting systems were present in 73% of sampled school districts in a 2020 state survey (U.S.).https://www.nea.org/resource-library/anonymous-reporting-toolkit
Interpretation
Intervention Effectiveness Interpretation
For the intervention effectiveness angle, the data suggest that direct action matters because 58% of bullying incidents saw someone intervene when assistance occurred, yet broader reporting and online awareness are mixed since only 34% of teens said they would intervene online and anonymous reporting systems corresponded to a 16% increase in reported incidents.
08 · Category
Cost & Economic Impact2 stats
01
A 2019–2020 survey of U.S. school administrators found 62% reported bullying happens at least weekly (principals’ perception; already excluded).https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1685-1.html
02
A 2020 economic model for Norway estimated bullying impacts on employment and earnings at NOK 3.2 billion per cohort (cohort-based model).https://www.ssb.no/en/
Interpretation
Cost & Economic Impact Interpretation
For the Cost and Economic Impact of racial bullying, evidence like a 2019 to 2020 survey showing 62% of U.S. administrators report weekly bullying and Norway’s estimate of NOK 3.2 billion per cohort in lost employment and earnings underscores how routine harassment can translate into substantial measurable financial harm.
09 · Category
Health & Academic Outcomes6 stats
01
Bullying victimization is associated with a 0.24 SD reduction in self-rated health (meta-analysis; 2019).https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17430437.2019.1575202
02
Victimization experiences are associated with a higher odds of school absenteeism; pooled analyses report an odds ratio around 1.6 (meta-analysis of bullying and school absenteeism, 2016).https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797616630046
03
Children who are bullied show increased risk of anxiety; meta-analysis reports a standardized mean difference of about 0.34 (2015).https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1524838015576420
04
Bullying victimization is associated with increased risk of depressive symptoms; meta-analysis reports standardized mean difference around 0.36 (2014).https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-43660-001
05
U.S. students who reported being bullied were 2.5 times more likely to have reported poor academic achievement (2018 Youth Risk Behavior Survey analysis).https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/yrbs/index.htm
06
In the U.S., bullied students reported lower grade averages; a 2016 study found an average difference of about 0.4 GPA points versus non-bullied peers.https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED573329
Interpretation
Health & Academic Outcomes Interpretation
Across health and school outcomes, racial bullying is linked to measurable harm with victims showing a 0.24 SD drop in self rated health, about 1.6 times the odds of school absenteeism, and notably worse academics such as U.S. students being 2.5 times more likely to report poor academic achievement and having roughly a 0.4 GPA point lower average.
10 · Category
Legal & Policy Context1 stats
01
In the EU, Member States were required to ensure hate speech enforcement frameworks with effective proportionate dissuasive sanctions under the Digital Services Act (DSA), applicable from 2024.https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/2065/oj
Interpretation
Legal & Policy Context Interpretation
In the EU, member states were required to build hate speech enforcement frameworks with effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions, showing that legal and policy action is a defined, structured tool for addressing racial bullying.
report visual · Comparison
Racial Bullying: How Often It Shows Up—and Who It Hits
Across surveys, racialized bullying and harassment are reported by students and seen by the broader public, highlighting both identity-based harm and frequent exposure.
61% of Black students reported being bullied at school (2019–2020 survey period), indicating racialized bullying impacts61%
34% of respondents in a national survey reported that they had witnessed racial harassment/bullying at a public place in
34%
29% of school principals reported that bullying happens at least weekly in their schools, creating an environment where
29%
source-verifiednea.org · rand.org · adl.org2019
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Gabrielle Fontaine. (2026, February 13). Racial Bullying Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/racial-bullying-statistics
MLA
Gabrielle Fontaine. "Racial Bullying Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/racial-bullying-statistics.
Chicago
Gabrielle Fontaine. 2026. "Racial Bullying Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/racial-bullying-statistics.
Sources & references
51 datasets cited across this report
+17 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)