ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A new report from the New York State Comptroller’s Office shows incidents of bullying and drug use are on the rise in schools across the state.
News 8 recently reported on a call to action from members of the Warsaw community, following an incident involving a student on the high school boys’ basketball team.
The state says rates of bullying and drug use in schools now exceed pre-pandemic levels. While those have increased, the number of what are defined as serious violent and disruptive cases has dropped.
The data focuses on reporting from school districts during school hours or events. It runs from 2017 through 2024. Numbers are broken down for New York City, upstate, and downstate schools and show drug-related incidents are higher at upstate schools compared to other regions.
The report says bullying accounts for more than 60 precent of all incidents reported. One attorney we spoke to says there are trends showing the frequence of reporting has changed in New York.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s more bullying. I think that now schools are required to respond in a way they weren’t before, and I think it’s giving parents the ability to do something whereas before they didn’t have that access to the school. It doesn’t mean that schools are dangerous, and it doesn’t mean kids are in any danger. I just think the reporting and the ability to do something about it is that much better now,” said Nancy Nissen, partner at Tully Rinckey PLLC.
The report also shows rates of cyberbullying are low across the state, but indicated those cases may often go unreported.
