Back To School Concern: Michigan Ranks Near The Top In School Bullying

As kids prepare themselves to head back to school early next month (or later this month in some cases), it's more than a little disconcerting to know Michigan ranks in the top 10 in the nation for the prevalence of school bullying.

So what can you do about it?

With back-to-school season upon us and more than 160,000 children missing school every day in the U.S. out of fear of being bullied, the personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2016’s States with the Biggest Bullying Problems.

To identify the states where bullying is most pervasive, WalletHub’s analysts compared 45 states and the District of Columbia across 17 key metrics, ranging from “bullying-incident rate” to “truancy costs for schools” to “percentage of high school students bullied online.”

Bullying Prevalence & Prevention in Michigan (1=Biggest, 23=Avg.):

• 3^rd – % of High School Students Bullied on School Property
• 5^th – % of High School Students Bullied Online
• 19^th – % of High School Students Involved in Physical Fight at School
• 26^th – % of High School Students Who Attempted Suicide
• 8^th – Cost of Truancy for Schools Due to Bullying
• 3^rd – Student-to-Counselor Ratio
• 10^th – State Anti-Bullying Laws & Policies
• 2^nd – State Anti-Cyberbullying Laws Requiring School Policy

While you can't entirely 'bully-proof' your child, there are some things you can do to help your kid get through an episode of bullying.

The number one thing according to most experts is to keep the lines of communication open. If your child feels comfortable telling you about their experiences at school, chances are pretty good they will tip you off to the early stages of bullying, so you can help nip it in the bud.

While helping your child not to overreact to bullying removes the joy the bully may get from the experience, it's helpful to involve school counselors and teachers as early as possible.

And karate lessons aren't a bad idea either.

Here's a great list of ten ways to empower your kids against bullying.