Data shows bullying in Kingsport City Schools on the rise

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) – Reports of bullying and confirmed cases of bullying are rising in Kingsport City Schools, according to a report presented to the Board of Education during a work session Tuesday evening.

Chief Student Services Officer Jim Nash presented the bullying numbers and a report that included information on safety, discipline and attendance as part of an annual report required by school board policy.

In 22-23, there were 98 reported cases of bullying, and in 23-24, that number rose to 143. Of those, 50 cases were determined to be incidents of bullying after an investigation by school officials. That’s an increase of 17 from the previous year.

Assistant Superintendent of Kingsport City Schools Dr. Andrew True says it’s always difficult to determine whether more kids are being bullied or reporting it.

“A lot of time as we analyze that, and look at the why,” True said. “Is it because there are more situations? Is it because we’re hoping to call more awareness to the situation?”

Whichever is the case, True says student safety is a top priority.

“The most important thing is if a child feels like they’re being bullied, it’s an important thing for us is to know about it so that way we can intercede in it, we can investigate, we can take steps to protect and support a child and a family as they go through that process,” he said.

True suspects that there have been more reports of bullying because the school has made it easier and, in some cases, anonymous.

“We have an anonymous online portal where you can go on and submit information. So that way, if you’re not comfortable divulging who you are, it can be done in an anonymous way,” True explained. “That’s something we put in place several years ago that allows us to know and respond when situations are occurring or things that we need to know about, not just for bullying, but really for any kind of communication that would be helpful for administrators to know about.”

The report divided the bullying cases into categories, such as being bullied because of race, disability, sex, or gender; even cyberbullying was included. Nine cases were punished with an out-of-school suspension of less than 10 days, and 41 incidents were punished with something other than an out-of-school suspension.

True says the numbers are a starting point for educators to dig deeper to find ways to reduce not only overall bullying but also instances in each category so that students and families feel their voices are being heard when they report a bullying case.

“That is an indicator, hopefully, that we are improving that communication with families because we do want to know when they’re concerned so we can address them,” said True. “I think we can look at the data kind of holistically, but also individually too as it comes down to each of those individual situations. What can we do to best support every individual child if they feel like there’s a concern?”

System data from 2022 showed a significant increase in bullying incidents compared to school years before the COVID-19 lockdowns.

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