29 Bullying Survey Questions

Bystander and Peer Witness Bullying Questions

Sample questions

1. In the past 30 days, how often have you seen another student being bullied?

2. What kinds of bullying have you witnessed most often?

3. When you saw bullying, what did you usually do: helped, reported it, stayed silent, joined in, or left?

4. What stops students from reporting bullying when they see it?

5. Do you believe students at your school are encouraged to support peers who are targeted?

Peer insight fills the gaps

Why & When to Use

This part of a bullying questionnaire helps you understand what peers see before adults ever hear about it, which matters because bullying often has an audience long before it has a report.

Here’s the thing, witness-based bullying questions do a different job than victim-only questions.

They show not just who was targeted, but how classmates responded, whether they stepped in, stayed quiet, or looked the other way like the hallway suddenly became a school climate survey questions nature documentary.

Use this bullying survey section when your school or organization wants to measure how often students witness bullying and what they do next.

Plus, it works especially well after awareness campaigns about upstander behavior, since it helps you see whether the message actually changed real actions.

To make these bullying questions more useful, focus on behavior and barriers, not just good intentions.

• Use neutral wording so students do not feel pushed to give the “right” answer.

• Ask what stopped them from helping or reporting, such as fear, peer pressure, uncertainty, or thinking adults would not help.

• Include options for multiple responses, since witness reactions are not always simple.

• Add this section into a broader bullying survey so you can compare student experience, peer behavior, and reporting culture in one place.

A 2021 study of 64,670 adolescents found more positive school climate was associated with more helpful bullying bystander responses, supporting witness-focused survey questions (source)

Cyberbullying Survey Questions

Sample questions

1. In the past 30 days, have you received hurtful, threatening, or humiliating messages online?

2. Has anyone posted or shared embarrassing content about you without your permission?

3. On which platforms does cyberbullying happen most often in your environment?

4. Do you know how to report cyberbullying to a school, employer, platform, or trusted adult?

5. How much does online bullying affect your mental well-being, sleep, or sense of safety?

Digital harm needs its own lens

Why & When to Use

Use this part of a bullying questionnaire when harmful behavior does not stop at school, work, or any physical location, but follows you onto social media, messaging apps, gaming platforms, or shared devices.

Here’s the thing, cyberbullying plays by different rules than in-person bullying, so a strong questionnaire on bullying should usually treat it as its own section.

That matters in middle school, high school, college, and workplace settings, where online behavior can spread fast, hide behind anonymous accounts, and linger longer than anyone wants.

A screenshot can travel faster than gossip with a gym membership.

To make your bullying survey more useful, ask about the details that shape the experience, not just whether it happened.

• Include questions about frequency, so you can tell the difference between a one-time incident and repeated online targeting.

• Ask where it happens most often, using platform-specific examples when helpful without trying to name every app on Earth.

• Cover anonymity, since not knowing who is behind the behavior can change how safe a person feels.

• Add bullying questions about impact, including stress, sleep, focus, and emotional well-being.

• Include a question about whether online bullying spills into offline interactions, because digital harm rarely stays neatly in one tab.

• Use age-appropriate wording and privacy-sensitive language so people feel safer answering honest questions about bullying.

Reporting and Adult Support Questions About Bullying

Sample questions

1. If you experienced or witnessed bullying, how likely would you be to report it?

2. Who would you feel most comfortable telling about bullying?

3. What is the main reason students or staff do not report bullying?

4. When bullying is reported, how often do adults take it seriously?

5. Do you believe reporting bullying leads to helpful action without making the situation worse?

Trust in reporting changes everything

Why & When to Use

Use this section of a bullying questionnaire when you want to know whether people actually trust the system that is supposed to protect them.

It works especially well in schools, youth clubs, sports teams, and workplaces where anti-bullying policies exist on paper, but a school climate survey questions may still reveal that many incidents never get reported.

Here’s the thing, repeated bullying often grows in the gap between policy and belief.

If people think adults will ignore them, blame them, or somehow make the problem bigger, silence becomes part of the pattern, which is about as helpful as an umbrella made of crackers.

A strong bullying survey should measure more than reporting behavior alone.

• Ask bullying questions about trust, so you learn whether people believe adults will listen and respond fairly.

• Include questions to ask about bullying that explore confidentiality, because fear of gossip or exposure can stop reporting fast.

• Add items about retaliation, since worry about social fallout or punishment often explains underreporting.

• Separate awareness of policy from confidence in policy, because knowing the rule is not the same as believing it works.

• Compare responses across student groups, age bands, teams, or departments to spot where support feels weakest.

On top of that, smart questions about bullying uncover barriers to reporting, not just whether someone spoke up.

Students who perceive teachers and staff as supportive are more willing to seek help for bullying, highlighting trust in adult response as a key survey focus. Source

Bullying Impact and Well-Being Questionnaire

Sample questions

1. How often has bullying made you feel anxious, sad, angry, or isolated?

2. Has bullying affected your confidence or self-esteem?

3. Has bullying caused you to avoid school, work, social events, or online spaces?

4. How much has bullying affected your ability to concentrate, learn, or perform your responsibilities?

5. What kind of support would help you recover from bullying experiences?

Measure the harm, not just the incident

Why & When to Use

Use this part of a bullying questionnaire when you need to understand what bullying is doing to a person’s well-being, not just whether it happened.

Here’s the thing, a strong bullying survey should move from “Did this occur?” to “What impact is it having on your life right now?”

That makes this section especially useful for research questions about bullying, intervention reviews, and support planning in schools, colleges, and workplaces.

Plus, these bullying questions can reveal patterns in emotional health, sense of belonging, attendance, focus, and performance that basic reporting data can miss.

Keep the wording trauma-informed and non-judgmental so people feel safe answering honestly.

• Use calm, clear language that does not blame the person being bullied.

• Avoid overly graphic prompts, because detail is not the same as insight.

• Include questions about bullying that cover emotional, social, academic, and work-related effects.

• Add a support-oriented item so your bullying survey points toward recovery, not just documentation.

• Consider resource language after the survey, such as counseling, HR, safeguarding, or crisis support options, because sensitive questions should not end with “thanks and goodbye.”

On top of that, thoughtful questions to ask about bullying help you see where support is needed most, and that is where better action starts.

Demographic and Contextual Bullying Questionnaire Items

Sample questions

1. What grade level, age group, or role best describes you?

2. In what setting have you most often experienced or witnessed bullying?

3. Do you believe bullying happens more often to certain groups in your school or organization?

4. Have you felt targeted because of a personal characteristic or identity?

5. At what time or during which activities does bullying happen most often?

Context turns data into direction

Why & When to Use

Use this part of a bullying questionnaire when you want to understand who is being affected, where bullying happens, and whether certain groups face higher risk.

Here’s the thing, these are not standalone bully questions.

They work best as support items that help you interpret the rest of your bullying survey with more accuracy and fairness.

This is especially useful for equity-focused analysis, stronger research questions about bullying, and smarter prevention planning in schools, colleges, workplaces, and community programs.

Plus, good bullying questions about context can show patterns linked to age, grade, role, location, disability status, race, gender identity, or other relevant factors, when it is appropriate and ethical to ask.

Keep sensitive demographic items optional, because a useful bullying survey should gather insight, not make people feel cornered.

• Use inclusive response options so people can describe themselves accurately.

• Add privacy safeguards and explain how responses will be protected.

• Only collect questions about bullying and identity data that you will actually use to improve outcomes.

• Include setting, timing, and activity-based questions on bullying to spot practical intervention points.

• Review whether each question about bullying helps action planning, because extra data loves to cosplay as useful.

Best Practices for Writing a Bullying Survey

Sample questions

1. During the past 30 days, how often have you been bullied at school, online, or during activities?

2. Where does bullying happen most often in your experience?

3. What types of bullying questions feel easiest for you to answer honestly?

4. If you reported bullying, what happened next?

5. How has bullying affected your focus, attendance, stress, or sense of safety?

Clear questions get better answers

Why & When to Use

Use these best practices when you are building a bullying survey that people can actually understand, finish, and trust.

Here’s the thing, even smart questions about bullying can flop if they are vague, biased, or way too long.

Dos

• Define bullying clearly before asking bullying questions.

• Use plain, age-appropriate language that matches your audience.

• Mix frequency, location, behavior, reporting, and impact items in your bullying questionnaire.

• Use neutral wording and a clear timeframe, like past 2 weeks, past 30 days, or this school year.

• Offer anonymous or confidential options when possible.

• Pilot test your bullying survey with a small group first.

• Share support resources if questions on bullying may bring up distress.

Don'ts

• Don’t ask vague questions regarding bullying, like “Do people treat you badly?” That is too fuzzy.

• Don’t bundle ideas together, like “Have you been bullied and ignored by staff?” Pick one idea per item.

• Don’t use loaded wording such as “How often are you unfairly targeted?” if you have not established that bullying occurred.

• Don’t force sensitive identity disclosure unless it is truly needed.

• Don’t forget cyberbullying if it matters for your group.

• Don’t make the survey too long. About 10 to 20 minutes is usually plenty, because attention spans are not magical creatures.

• Don’t collect answers without a plan for confidentiality, review, action, and follow-up support.

Sample questions

1. Which bullying survey results show the biggest problems by frequency, location, or type of behavior?

2. Where do students or staff report the lowest confidence in asking for help or reporting bullying?

3. What patterns in this bullying questionnaire suggest a need for training, supervision, or policy changes?

4. Which groups seem most affected by bullying, and what support should happen first?

5. When should you repeat the bullying survey to see whether your actions are working?

How to Turn Bullying Survey Insights Into Action

Good data should lead somewhere useful

Why & When to Use

Use this step after collecting your bullying survey so you can turn answers into decisions, not just a sad spreadsheet.

Here’s the thing, the best bullying questions are only valuable if you review them for patterns and then actually do something about them.

Start by sorting responses by frequency, location, type of bullying, reporting confidence, and impact on safety, stress, attendance, or focus.

Plus, this helps you spot hotspots like hallways, buses, locker rooms, group chats, or other places where bullying keeps showing up like an unwanted sequel.

Look for trends across age groups, grades, teams, departments, or identity groups to find who may be at higher risk and where your system may be falling short.

Then turn those findings into practical next steps:

• train staff to recognize and respond faster

• teach students what bullying is, how to report it, and how to support peers

• increase supervision in high-risk locations

• simplify reporting systems and explain what happens after a report

• add digital safety education if cyberbullying appears often

On top of that, repeat the bullying questionnaire on a regular schedule, like each term or twice a year, to measure change over time.

The practical takeaway is simple: the right questions to ask about bullying should lead to prevention, support, and accountability.

Best Practices: Dos and Don’ts for Crafting Bullying Survey Questions

Building a solid bullying questionnaire is like making a great sandwich, because you need balance, structure, and just enough human touch to keep people interested instead of checked out.

Here’s the thing, you want your questions to give you real insight you can actually use, not just numbers on a spreadsheet.

• Do keep questions short, clear, and age-appropriate.

• Don’t write like a lawyer, so skip the jargon and tight legal phrases.

• Do promise anonymity or confidentiality to get honest answers from people who might be nervous to share.

• Don’t ask for names or identifying details, ever.

• Do mix multiple-choice and open-ended bullying questions to ask, so you get both patterns and personal stories.

• Don’t flood people with too many of either type, or you risk survey fatigue and half-finished responses.

• Do test your survey on a small group to catch confusing words or culture gaps before you roll it out widely.

• Don’t assume every student, parent, or staff member interprets questions the same way you do.

• Do link your survey to real resources and support at the end, so people see it is not “just a form.”

• Don’t turn surveys into another check-the-box exercise, because your community will definitely notice.

On top of that, you want to embed bullying survey images, easy-to-read headings, and bold key phrases so people can follow along without feeling lost.

Creating the perfect research question about bullying takes time, but the payoff is data that sparks change instead of bored shrugs.

Plus, if you are ready to kick bullying out for good, your first step is to ask the right questions, to the right people, at the right time.

Bullying surveys put power back into everyone’s hands, which is pretty impressive for a bunch of questions on a screen or page.

The more you listen, the more you will learn, and the safer your school or workplace will feel, because it is almost impossible to fix a problem that no one ever talks about.