When bullied children stay home to avoid hurtful relationships, schools lose tens of millions of dollars each year, anew study says.
And the numbers are significant: California schools alone lost $276 million in funding when students stayed home out of fear, the authors estimate.
That's because those absences can lower average daily attendance rates, which are used by many states to allocate significant amounts of school funding, says the study, published this week in School Psychology Quarterly.
The researchers focused on California, using data from the state's 2011-2013 California Healthy Kids Survey and from its education department. The survey responses were from 7th-, 9th- and 11th-grade students from nearly half of the schools across the state.
It will take a multi-pronged approach to address the problem, advocates say. And that approach should include work to address the effects of poverty, health issues, and school climate concerns like bullying.
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