One in seven students in grades K-12 is either a bully or a victim of bullying, according to makebeatsnotbeatdowns.org.

Nine out of ten Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) youth reported being verbally harassed at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation and half reported being physically harassed. Of those who did report the incidents, one-third said the school staff did nothing in response.

Bullying is a prevalent problem everywhere.

Donia Idrissi, senior, was a victim of bullying. She said that people would point out everything that was wrong with her.

“A year ago, when I was a new student, I got a call from someone. The person started saying all these mean things. [The person]  listed everything that was wrong with me, from my head to my feet,” Idrissi said.

Suicide and bullying are no laughing matter either. An estimated 500,000 teenagers attempt suicide every year, and about 5,000 succeed. Suicide rates among 10 to 14-year-olds have launched more than 50 percent over the last 30 years, according to the American Association of Suicidology, AAS.

Idrissi said that despite everything that happened to her, ” I never let the mean things get to me.”

Social networking sites have become notorious for cyberbullying. According to a Consumer Reports survey conducted in the US in early 2011, one million children were harassed, threatened, or subjected to other forms of cyberbullying on Facebook in the past year.

“I got a lot of hate through my tumblr and my formspring. They would leave very hurtful things,” said Idrissi.

With the increasing numbers of cyberbullying attacks, schools have taken action by enforcing stricter punishments and raising awareness that this behavior is unacceptable. The Hawaii State Board and Department of Education (DOE) have taken action by producing and airing a series of student produced Public Service Announcements. The DOE also developed a program called Peaceful Schools and recommended it to the Board of Education to implement in the schools. The program requires $1 million for staff and training.

With cyberbullying becoming more popular and on the rise since 2010, Hawaii enforced an anti-bullying act that took affect on July 6 of this year.

Suicide is a serious issue. If you know someone or if you’re thinking about attempting suicide, please call 1-800-273-TALK or talk to someone close. If you or someone you know is being bullied, report it.