Analyzing Post-Pandemic Bullying Trends: Cyber and School-Based Strategies

A national trend analysis found a post‑pandemic rise in cyberbullying concentrated in younger adolescents while traditional school-based bullying remained largely stable—an important signal for clinicians and school leaders to re-evaluate screening and reporting pathways.

The study used multi‑year, repeated cross‑sectional school surveys (ages 11–15) across more than 40 countries to track trends before and after the pandemic, so surveillance may need to include online behaviors among younger students as part of routine assessments.

In practice, traditional school-based perpetration and victimization showed no meaningful change across survey rounds, whereas cyberbullying increased after the pandemic. Physical‑fighting trends diverged by age and gender—rising among younger female students and falling among older male students—highlighting modality‑specific patterns. Mitigation therefore requires separate, tailored approaches for face‑to‑face and online harms rather than a single undifferentiated program.

The age‑stratified data show marked increases in both cyberbullying perpetration and victimization among students aged 11 and 13 but not among 15‑year‑olds, and these rises were observed after the return to in‑person schooling in the post‑pandemic period. The temporal framing supports a post‑pandemic rise concentrated in younger adolescents, with consistent patterns across genders for the 11‑ and 13‑year groups. Screening and prevention efforts should therefore prioritize younger adolescents and consider lowering screening‑age thresholds to detect emerging online victimization earlier.

Changes in social behavior during school closures likely contributed: increased social media use, disrupted peer supervision during remote schooling, and altered reporting pathways when students reconvened in person. The study’s observational design supports a temporal association but not causal proof. Persistent digital footprints and rapid sharing can amplify single incidents, and reduced adult supervision during remote periods plausibly elevated exposure among younger users—so school reopening represents a key moment for renewed surveillance.

Iin terms of immediate clinical impact, the post‑pandemic increase in cyberbullying concentrated among 11‑ and 13‑year‑olds, with stable traditional bullying levels, should refocus attention for younger adolescents, school staff, and pediatric clinicians. Moving forward, immediate, targeted operational adjustments are warranted rather than broad new mandates.

Key Takeaways:

• A post‑pandemic rise in cyberbullying perpetration and victimization concentrated among 11‑ and 13‑year‑olds while traditional bullying remained stable—next step: shift screening and reporting toward online behaviors in younger grades.
• Prioritize targeted prevention in younger grades, expand digital‑literacy curricula, and strengthen confidential reporting and triage pathways linking school nurses, counselors, and pediatric providers.
• Re-evaluate anti‑bullying program reach with age‑stratified metrics, add cyber‑specific endpoints, and use short‑cycle assessments after interventions to detect rapid changes.