Posted on August 23, 2011

Bullying Bruises Grades for Black & Latino Achievers

Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience, August 23, 2011

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Students who reported being bullied in the 10th grade saw a drop in their grades in 12th grade compared with their pre-bullying 9th-grade scores, according to research presented today (Aug. 23) at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Las Vegas. The drop is sharpest for high-scoring black and Latino students, said study author Lisa Williams, a graduate student at Ohio State University. That may be because these high achievers don’t fit their communities’ racial stereotypes.

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The effects were starkest when looking at academically talented minority students. An African-American student with a 3.5 GPA (out of a potential 4.0) in 9th grade who was bullied lost, on average, 0.3 GPA points by 12th grade. For a white student with a 3.5 GPA, that same number was only 0.03 points, 10 times less severe.

Victimized high-achieving Latino students fared even worse, losing 0.5 GPA points on average in 12th grade as a result of bullying.

Low-achieving Latino and black students’ GPAs were not as affected by bullying, dropping less than 0.1 GPA points. Low-achieving whites were more affected than high-achievers, losing just over 0.1 points. For Asian students, being high- or low-achieving made no difference in the amount of GPA lost: Bullying in 10th grade translated to about a 0.3-point drop in GPA across the board.

{snip} According to stereotype, blacks and Latinos do worse in school, she [Williams] said, so those students might be picked on for failing to conform.