Bullying At Bismarck Public Schools: Is There A Problem?

Bullying at school. I'm sure this takes a lot of people back.

I grew up in a time when bullying at school was the norm, and very little was done about it. You usually had to take matters into your own hands if you wanted it to stop.

I remember a certain individual back in one of my middle school classes who used to take pleasure in kicking the desk behind me directly into my back. Let's call him "Shane". Despite my complaints to the teacher and the black and blue marks on my back, nothing was ever done about it.

One day, I had finally had enough, and I snapped. After he did his tired old bit of kicking the vacant desk and chair into my back, I got up quickly, and went over to him in his chair and desk and lifted it and tipped him upside down on his head. The whole class gave me a standing ovation, and guess what? Shane never bothered me again.

Of course, in this day and age, my behavior would be punishable and highly discouraged.

You have to go through the proper channels, and that's great if anything actually gets done. Meanwhile, kids live in fear, and going to school can be a daily nightmare. However, I do believe schools these days are doing a much better job at bullying in schools.

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My son graduated from Bismarck High back in 2022, and I made sure he was ready to handle any potential bullying at school. Something we talked about often, and to my surprise, I really don't think bullying was a big problem at any of his schools growing up.

I was impressed by all the anti-bullying messages at the schools he attended, from posters to banners. That doesn't mean there weren't still problems, but at least they were addressed.

I recently reached out to Bismarck Public Schools to see if they could get their bullying numbers.

Overall, these numbers look really good. In fact, bullying complaints in 2024 were down 50% from the previous year.

Here's the breakdown of bullying investigations at Bismarck Public Schools: (over the last 5 years)

2023-2024: 18 investigations and 5 confirmed instances of bullying.

2022-2023: 37 investigations and 10 confirmed instances of bullying.

2021-2022: 17 investigations and 4 confirmed instances of bullying.

2020-2021: 16 investigations and 6 confirmed instances of bullying.

2019-2020: 11 investigations and 2 confirmed instances of bullying.

These numbers are much better than I would've guessed. If you have a bullying concern with your child, Bismarck Public Schools invites you to fill out a form. You can access that here.

When there is a formal report of bullying at a Bismarck Public School, an internal investigation is conducted. BPS tracks how many investigations and confirmed incidents there are each school year.

It's good to see there is a plan of action to end senseless bullying. I really believe bullying begins at home. Parents, talk to your children, and make sure your child is not being bullied or being a bully.