A recent study in the Journal of Educational Psychology examines the extent to which disruptive classroom environments contribute to children’s experiences of victimization (i.e., bullying) in elementary school.
Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11, researchers tracked a cohort of 11,373 students from kindergarten through fifth grade, focusing on student and teacher survey data from the end of the students’ third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade years. The student questions explored their perceived experiences with verbal, relational (e.g., social exclusion), reputational (e.g., spreading rumors), and physical victimization. Teachers reported on levels of classroom disruptiveness (for example, the concentration of students displaying dysregulated, oppositional, inattentive, or off-task behaviors). Teachers also provided information about their classroom composition, including class size, absenteeism rates, the percentage of students with disabilities, the percentage of English language learners, and other demographic and academic characteristics.
To estimate the relationship between classroom disruptiveness and victimization, the researchers compared changes in students’ classroom environments with changes in their reported experiences of victimization. The study yields three main findings.
First, exposure to classroom disruptiveness was not evenly distributed across student groups. Black students, boys, students with disabilities, and students from low- and middle-income families were more likely than White students, girls, students without disabilities, and students from high-income families to be assigned to disruptive classrooms. The gap was especially large for Black students.
Second, classroom disruptiveness was associated with higher levels of reported victimization. A one-standard-deviation increase in classroom disruptiveness corresponded to increases of approximately 0.03 standard deviations in total, verbal, and reputational victimization and a 0.04 standard deviation increase in physical victimization. While these effects are modest, they were statistically significant across each form of victimization.
Finally, the researchers examined whether classroom disruptiveness affected some student groups more than others. The answer was essentially no. While Black students, boys, and students with disabilities appeared to experience somewhat larger increases in victimization associated with classroom disruptiveness, these results were not statistically significantly different from those for White children, girls, and students without disabilities. The effects were also consistent across different socioeconomic subgroups.
Taken together, the three findings suggest that disruptive classroom environments increase the risk of victimization broadly, affecting students across demographic groups—and that marginalized students are more likely to be in disruptive classrooms, and therefore more likely to victimized.
It is worth noting several limitations of this study. First, measures of victimization relied on student self-reports, which may be influenced by differences in perception or willingness to disclose experiences. In addition, classroom disruptiveness was measured through teacher reports rather than direct observation. Teachers may differ in what they consider disruptive behavior, and ratings may be influenced by classroom context, teaching experience, or individual expectations.
Still, the link between classroom environment and victimization makes sense. Disruptive classrooms strain teachers’ ability to manage peer interactions effectively. Teachers must simultaneously maintain academic rigor, manage behavior, monitor student relationships, and support students’ social and emotional development. When disruptive behavior consumes a disproportionate share of teachers’ attention, harmful peer interactions may be more likely to go unnoticed.
This study relies on data collected more than a decade ago. Since then, the Covid pandemic and the rise of smartphones, social media, and cyberbullying has fundamentally altered how students interact with one another, potentially changing the relationship between classroom climate and victimization. It is worth replicating this research, perhaps expanding to cover middle and high schools where peer dynamics become more complex and interactions increasingly extend beyond the classroom and into online spaces.
While efforts to prevent bullying often focus on individual students or targeted interventions, this study suggests that reducing classroom disruptiveness should also be considered part of a broader, multilevel strategy to reduce victimization.
SOURCE: Qingqing Yang, Eric Hengyu Hu, Jiho Park, Yoonkyung Oh, and Paul L. Morgan, “Are Elementary School Children Bullied More When They Attend Disruptive Classrooms? A Child-Fixed-Effects Analysis,” Journal of Educational Psychology (March 2026).
