Almost 2 in 3 Sask. high school students bullied, says report

A new health survey of 9,000 Saskatchewan school students found almost two in three students experienced bullying in the past year, and 29 per cent of it happened online or in text messages.

In 2015, the Saskatchewan Alliance for Youth and Community Well-being (SAYCW) surveyed kids in Grades 7 to 12 on 11 health-related topics.

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It found 65 per cent of students had experienced bullying in the year leading up to the survey, with the majority of cases being verbal bullying.

The second most common form of bullying was cyberbullying, which was defined as sending threatening text messages or emails, or posting malicious comments on social media.

Cyberbullying harder to control: Gough

SAYCW project manager Margot Gough said it could be more difficult for schools to deal with bullying that happened online.

"It's happening some time during school time, and all the time, but it's not on things that school can really have a lot of control over," she said.

Gough personally believes online bullying can be easier to do because it is less personal.

She suggested promoting respect among students and making schools safer spaces were among the ways to help stop bullying.

"I think there are ways to work on all forms of bullying together," she said.

"Which, you know, can involve things like making sure that youth have respect for one another, and have reasons to want to lift each other up and not put each other down."

Students were also polled on other topics including mental health, self-esteem, physical activity and substance use.