Alabama students suffer some of the worst bullying in the US — like other southern conservative states: study

A new study has found the most bullied states tend to be southern and conservative.

The study from BackgroundChecks.org found that Louisiana ranked as the worst for bullying, followed by District of Columbia, Arkansas, Maryland, Arizona, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alaska and Alabama, reported the Advocate.

The least bullying was found in Oklahoma, New Jersey, Maine, Delaware, Vermont, Oregon, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Washington and North Dakota, according to the study.

The score for each state was based on four weighted factors: Half was determined by the frequency of reported bullying, 25 percent on in-school violence, 20 percent on the impact of bullying and 5 percent on whether the state had anti-bullying laws in place.

Nearly one in four Louisiana students reported being bullied, while one in 10 reported being threatened or harmed with a weapon at school, despite laws against in-school bullying and cyberbullying.

States with the highest frequency of cyberbullying ranked the highest for bullying on school property.

Another recent study found racially motivated bullying increased at schools in counties that backed President Donald Trump — and actually decreased in areas carried by Hillary Clinton.

Anecdotal evidence from around the country showed teenagers invoking Trump’s name or his proposed border wall to taunt classmates, and examination of data from Virginia found racial bullying increased in Trump counties — and the bullying rates correlated with the strength of voter support for the Republican candidate.