Bullying rates among middle school students in Spring 2017 were 18% higher in places where voters favored Donald Trump, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal, Educational Researcher.
The study, conducted by University of Missouri Associate Professor Fancis Huang and University of Virginia Professor Dewey Cornell, examined a Virginia statewide sample of more than 155,000 seventh- and eighth-grade students using school climate survey data collected in 2013, 2015 and 2017. Survey results were then mapped to presidential election results for each school district.
Huang and Cornell found that a 10% increase in voters supporting Trump in 2016 was associated with a 5% increase in middle school teasing because of race or ethnicity and an 8% increase in middle school bullying.
