Schools

How Much Bullying Happens In Your Union County School District?

New information from the 2015-2016 school year shows how much bullying happened in Union County schools.

UNION COUNTY, NJ— Newly released data shows exactly how much bullying happened in New Jersey schools last year, and the results are promising.

Statewide, bullying was down statewide, according to self-reported data released by the state Department of Education. In Somerset County districts all 23 schools reported at least 1 incident of any kind.

The top five Union County school districts with most incidents are:

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  1. Elizabeth City- 273
  2. Linden City - 106
  3. Union Township - 103
  4. Hillside Township - 63
  5. Summit City - 59

Five types of incidents were measured: violence, vandalism, weapons, substances and HIB (harassment, intimidation and bullying) offences. Most types of violence were fights, and the most common type of weapon for a student to be found with was a knife or similar object.

The data also includes instances of cyberbullying, which might not have happened on school grounds.

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A total of 1,042 incidents were reported at 23 school districts in Union County, with violence leading the most with 402 incidents. Followed by HIB with 326, Substance with 173, Vandalism with 93 and Weapons with 76.

A total of five Somerset County school districts had less than 10 incidents reported:

  1. Garwood Borough - 1
  2. Winfield Township - 1
  3. Mountainside Borough - 2
  4. Morris-Union Jointure Commission - 6
  5. Union County Vocational - 6

You can see the full data for Union County here:

You can find state- data by clicking here.

Are you happy with how your district handles bullying? Let Patch know in the comments.

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