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Forest Hills Secondary Schools Report More Bullying Than Primary Schools

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | September 10, 2015 6:10pm
 Schools across Forest Hills are reporting relatively few cases of bullying.
Schools across Forest Hills are reporting relatively few cases of bullying.
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DNAinfo.com

QUEENS — High schools and middle schools in Forest Hills are reporting more cases of bullying than elementary schools, state and city data shows.

The state Education Department uses two databases to track bullying — Violent and Disruptive Incident Reporting (VADIR) and the Dignity for All Students Act which seeks to address cyber-bullying and bias-related bullying, such as targeting race, religion, gender or weight.

But critics say that many schools fail to report incidents, and in the 2013-2014 school year only 30 percent of the city's roughly 1,700 public and charter schools reported some form of bullying to the database.

To get a better picture, the city's Department of Education conducts surveys among students in sixth through 12th grade asking them whether bullying is a problem.

In Forest Hills, J.H.S. 190 Russell Sage on Austin Street had the most reported cases of bullying among the schools in the neighborhood, according to state and city data. The school had a total of 19 incidents in the 2013-2014 school year, but roughly 36 percent of its students said that bullying happens at the school "most/all the time," according to the DOE's most recent survey.

In the same time period, Forest Hills High School, on 110th Street, reported 15 incidents of bullying while 18 percent of students said they believed that bullying happens at the school on a regular basis. 

Queens Metropolitan High School on Metropolitan Avenue reported 12 incidents while 12 percent of students said that bullying at the school happens all the time.

Most elementary schools in the neighborhood reported only a handful of incidents, and some, including P.S. 196 Grand Central Parkway, P.S. 303 The Academy for Excellence through the Arts and P.S 144 Col Jeromus Remsen reported none.

To find out whether bullying incidents have been reported at your child's school, check out DNAinfo's interactive map.