Bullying and Student Distress: beneath the tip of the iceberg

A sample of 836 adolescent students, in their first year of secondary education, completed a 14‐item forced‐choice questionnaire to provide information on their exposure to first‐hand experience of bullying and a range of other life events. Analysis of the data revealed support for levels of physical abuse indicated in other surveys of English secondary students, but yielded the highest level of verbal abuse yet reported in a school‐based study. Much more peer abuse was reported at secondary level than had been linked to the primary phase of the students’ education. Males recorded a significantly higher incidence of exposure to physically loaded events and both sexes recorded that they had been exposed to a range of life events which extended far beyond bullying. The results are discussed in the light of the research literature on both bullying and life events, and suggestions for student support are provided.