SURVEY: Were you bullied as a teen?

BY ERIKA NORTON
Among students ages 12 through 18, more than one out of every five (20.8 percent) reported being bullied at school, according to the U.S. Department of Justice National Crime Victimization Survey in 2015.
Teens who bully use their power — such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity — to control or harm others. Bullying is also repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time.
If bullying is persistent, it can become a serious problem, with both kids who are bullied and those who bully others experiencing long term negative effects into their adult lives.
Teens who are bullied are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, increased feelings of sadness and loneliness, changes in sleep and eating patterns, and loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy. They are also more likely to miss, skip, or drop out of school.
On the other hand, teens who bully others are more likely to engage in violent and risky behaviors into adulthood, such as abuse of alcohol or drugs, getting into fights, vandalism, or abusive behavior towards romantic partners, spouses, or children as adults. They are also more likely to drop out of school and have criminal convictions and traffic citations as adults.
CyberbullyingBut as more communication among teens moves to electronic devices, so has bullying.
Bullying through these devices, most commonly referred to as cyberbullying, is taking place over cell phones, computers, and tablets through texting, apps, social media, online forums and gaming.
In a 2017 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey, an estimated 14.9 percent of high school students were electronically bullied in the 12 months prior to the survey.
Bullies send, post, or share negative, harmful, false, or mean content about others. They also sometimes include sharing personal or private information to try to cause embarrassment or humiliation.
Were you bullied as a teen? Please help us gather a little data with the survey below: