More Fairfax County students reported they were bullied at school last year than in the year prior, a figure that’s continued to rise since 2021.
About 10.2% of eighth, 10th and 12th graders reported they had been bullied on school grounds within the past year, according to the 2023-24 Fairfax County, Virginia, Youth Survey results.
That’s up from 9.9% in 2022 and 8.9% in 2021. The figure hasn’t surpassed 10% since before the pandemic, in 2019. The survey wasn’t conducted in 2020.
The county uses the annual survey results to create programs to support students who need it most, according to Daryl Washington, executive director at the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board.
Despite the small increase in bullying, the data suggests students’ mental health is improving, Washington said.
“It’s showing improvement in mental health, almost across the board, with our young folks,” Washington said. “It’s also showing low uses of substance use amongst our school-age population of students.”
About 28,000 eighth, 10th and 12th graders took the survey, which is anonymous and optional. Another 11,000 sixth graders took a shortened version of it, the county said.
In 2023, the percentages of students reporting they’ve been bullied was highest among eighth graders, at 16.7%, and lowest among high school seniors, at 5.7%.
The survey defines bullying as what happens when “one or more students repeatedly tease, threaten, spread rumors about, hit, shove, or hurt another student.”
“We’ve been really pushing the importance of speaking up if you feel bullied, also speaking up if you see a fellow student being bullied as well,” Washington said. “So with these numbers, some of it could be we’re bringing attention to the issue.”
Social media could also play a role, Washington said, particularly as it relates to bullying and a student’s self-esteem, “and really the impact that is having on this next generation of folks that really was not an issue that previous generations had to deal with as a stressor.”
The county, he said, uses the data to determine where its resources will have the most significant impact.
Last year, the county focused on the high percentage of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts reported by LGBTQ+ students, hosting a community day to offer support, Washington said.
Meanwhile, one-fourth of eighth, 10th and 12th graders reported feeling so hopeless or sad that they stopped regular activities for two weeks or more. This year’s rate was the lowest to be reported in the last decade, the county said.
“We’ve tried to really make the bar for any youth’s family that needs access to mental health services, being able to get access to them,” Washington said.
Rates of substance use, including alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes and vaping, were also the lowest in the last decade for most substances, the county said.
The full survey results are available online.
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