NJ Has Seen 'Alarming' Increase In School Bullying, Report Says

NEW JERSEY — Incidents of bullying at New Jersey schools have increased at an "alarming" rate over the past several years, according to a new state report.

Since 2018 and continuing through 2023, bias-based incidents have quadrupled, the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Task Force report said, citing data from the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General.

The task force also looked at data from the state's Department of Education, which showed that the number of confirmed harassment, intimidation, and bullying cases has increased to the highest number yet since the state began to collect such data.

A large leap came during the year that students returned to in-person learning after the pandemic, officials said.

"During the 2021-2022 school year, an alarming 7,672 incidents of harassment, intimidation, and bullying were confirmed, while a staggering 19,138 investigations were reported," according to the report.

Saying that their goal is to assist schools across the state to "effectively prevent and address" harassment, intimidation, and bullying, officials added that they would like a standing advisory to focus on such topics and to make changes to the implementation of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act if necessary.

"We believe that schools and communities together with stakeholders and policymakers all have a role to play in creating welcoming inclusive safe schools," Shannon Cuttle, chairperson of the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Task Force, wrote in a letter to Governor Phil Murphy that was attached to the force's new recommendations.

The Anti-Bullying Task Force was first in existence from March 2012 through 2016 as part of an amendment to the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act.

The current task force convened in June 2023 to study and evaluate the act's results and make suggestions.

"Since the last task force convened in 2016, the current trends and research around harassment, intimidation, and bullying both nationally and in New Jersey show that hurtful and harmful rhetoric, hate speech, harassment, intimidation, and bullying continue to impact all students, especially our most marginalized students," officials wrote in the report.

The idea, then, is simple: to find ways to turn that trend around.

"Members of the Task Force are committed and eager to continue the work of ensuring welcoming inclusive safe schools for all students in New Jersey," Cuttle concluded.