This is an anonymous student survey designed to give educators a better idea of the atmosphere within their school and the relationship between students. It’s an absolute must for schools that are serious about bullying prevention, because it gives you an idea of your school as the students see it and provides insight into areas that need to be addressed.

How to administer this student survey on bullying:

1. This should be sprung on students. If you give them time to coordinate their responses, it may affect the information you get back. So don’t give it as a homework assignment (kids will call their friends and coordinate answers) and try to administer it across the whole school at once (doing one class at a time lets the other kids know what’s coming).

2. Find ways to give kids privacy. Separate the desks or allow them to sit in other parts of the room or outside in the hall, away from anyone else.

3. You might give kids the option of turning in an anonymous note along with the survey about anything they’d like to say that they don’t feel comfortable putting on the survey itself. Or simply give kids the option of putting their name to the survey.

Interpreting the results of this student survey

1. Beware of responses like “I get along with everybody” or “we don’t really have any problems in this school.” Such denial responses usually come from Queen Bees & Clique leaders, kids who are typically the meanest kids in the school.

2. Those students who take the longest to complete this survey are most likely to be personally affected and/or bothered by harassment at school.

School bullying student survey

This is a survey designed to help us old, clueless, out-of-touch adults understand the school from your perspective. Everything you write here is completely confidential, and nothing you tell us is going to come back to haunt you or get anyone else in trouble. We simply want to make the school a better place for all of our students, so please answer as honestly as possible.

• Download a printable PDF of this Student Survey About Bullying.

1. Sometimes kids organize themselves into groups. Write down all the different groups you think exist in this school, along with a sentence or two describing each one (how they dress, how they act, whether you see them as good or bad, etc.)

2. Where do you feel you fit in.

3. If you hang out with a particular circle of friends, what do you get from being part of this group?

4. Have you ever wanted to leave the group or go against what they were doing, but felt like you couldn’t? If so, what do you think might happen if you left?

5. Have you ever been teased or tormented by someone in the clique?

6. Who are the nicest kids you know?

7. Who are the meanest kids you know?

8. How often does someone call you names or verbally harass you? (Please check the following answers according to your experiences at school)

__ Daily or almost every day
__ Once or twice a week
__ Once or twice a month
__ Once or twice in the last 6 months
__ Once or twice in the last year
__ Never

9. How often have you been kicked, hit, or punched by another student?

__ Daily or almost every day
__ Once or twice a week
__ Once or twice a month
__ Once or twice in the last 6 months
__ Once or twice in the last year
__ Never

10. How often has someone pushed you, nudged you in a threatening way, or made you drop your books?

__ Daily or almost every day
__ Once or twice a week
__ Once or twice a month
__ Once or twice in the last 6 months
__ Once or twice in the last year
__ Never

11. How often do people make verbal threats towards you or try to intimidate you?

__ Daily or almost every day
__ Once or twice a week
__ Once or twice a month
__ Once or twice in the last 6 months
__ Once or twice in the last year
__ Never

12. Have you ever been the subject of mean-spirited gossip?

__ Daily or almost every day
__ Once or twice a week
__ Once or twice a month
__ Once or twice in the last 6 months
__ Once or twice in the last year
__ Never

13. Had someone else steal or destroy your property?

__ Daily or almost every day
__ Once or twice a week
__ Once or twice a month
__ Once or twice in the last 6 months
__ Once or twice in the last year
__ Never

14. How often do you feel threatened or unsafe at school?

__ Daily or almost every day
__ Once or twice a week
__ Once or twice a month
__ Once or twice in the last 6 months
__ Once or twice in the last year
__ Never

15. Has anyone ever grabbed your breasts or bottom or intentionally rubbed up against you or felt you up in a way that made you feel uncomfortable?

__ Daily or almost every day
__ Once or twice a week
__ Once or twice a month
__ Once or twice in the last 6 months
__ Once or twice in the last year
__ Never

16. How often do people call you sexually-charged names? (Slut, dyke, whore, fag, etc.)

__ Daily or almost every day
__ Once or twice a week
__ Once or twice a month
__ Once or twice in the last 6 months
__ Once or twice in the last year
__ Never

17. How often do people tease or bully you over issues of sexuality? (Stuff which goes beyond the everyday name-calling discussed above)

__ Daily or almost every day
__ Once or twice a week
__ Once or twice a month
__ Once or twice in the last 6 months
__ Once or twice in the last year
__ Never

18. When any of the things in questions 8 through 17 go on, how do teachers respond?

19. Pretty much everyone has people they don’t get along with. Is there anyone in particular who causes you problems? If so, list the names of those people, or describe them if you don’t know their names. Also briefly describe what type of trouble they give you. (This is not going to get them in trouble, we just want to get a better idea of who doesn’t get along.)

20. What areas in the school (or around the school) make you most nervous when you go there – like you feel something bad could happen or you might get teased?

21. Nobody should have to spend their day being harassed. So if you could offer any suggestions that would make for a more compassionate school environment with less hostility, what would those be?

22. There’s a good chance that you sometimes feel judged at school. What are some of the specific things kids judge each other by? Write the most common things you can think of and number each one according to how important they are.

23. If there’s anything else you want us to know or think we should know, please write it on a separate piece of paper or on the back of this survey.

2. Those students who take the longest to complete this survey are most likely to be personally affected and/or bothered by harassment at school.