Giving Compass' Take:

• United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released a troubling report that found at least one in three children has been bullied in the last month alone. 

• What can educators do to make school climates safer and reduce school bullying? 

• Read more about the responsibility of school districts to protect students against bullying. 

A growing number of students around the world aren’t getting the full educational experience they deserve because they are being bullied, according to a new report.

After taking a closer look at the prevalence of school bullying, the United Nations Educational, Scientific,  and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is calling attention to the need to promote “safe and inclusive” learning environments, UN News reports.

UNESCO released “Behind the Numbers: Ending School Violence and Bullying” Tuesday at the Education World Forum in London. The statistics are startling. One in three children has been bullied at least once at school over the last month, according to UNESCO. Close to the same amount have experienced physical violence.

“All children and young people have the right to safe, inclusive, and effective learning environments,” Stefania Giannini, UNESCO’s assistant director-general for education, said at the forum.

Currently, most children who are victims of bullying across the globe are targeted physically, and boys tend to be the perpetrators, the report said. Girls are more likely to use psychological abuse, which is the most common form of bullying in North America and Europe — and sexually-related bullying isn’t far behind.

The study found online and smartphone bullying is a growing issue. UNICEF published a study in 2017, stating 70% of kids in Malaysia have been harassed online, and one-quarter have been bullied. In developing countries like Malaysia, receiving an education is key to escaping poverty, which puts children who are bullied at a major disadvantage.

Bullying can severely stunt a child’s academic career. Children who are bullied regularly are nearly three times more likely to feel shunned and more than twice as likely to miss school.

Read the full article about school bullying by Leah Rodriguez at Global Citizen