Girls on Bonaire and Saba are bullied more than boys
Girls on Bonaire and Saba in particular were more likely to be bullied than boys in 2024. Boys and girls who were bullied said they were less happy and less satisfied with their lives. They were also less likely to talk to someone about personal issues. This is according to new figures from the Caribbean Netherlands Student Survey which was conducted at the end of 2024 as part of the National Youth Monitor.
In 2024, 24 percent of students aged under 18 in secondary education and secondary vocational education (MBO) on Saba and 22 percent on Bonaire had been bullied at some point in the past twelve months. On St Eustatius this was 14 percent. Bullying most often occurred offline; among young people on Saba and Bonaire mainly through gossip, and on St Eustatius through verbal abuse.
On average across all three islands, girls were bullied more often than boys. This difference was largest on Saba and Bonaire. On Saba, 31 percent of girls and 17 percent of boys were bullied in 2024. On Bonaire this was 26 and 18 percent, respectively. On St Eustatius, it was 16 percent versus 12 percent.
Young people who are bullied are less happy and less satisfied with life
The respondents were also asked to give their happiness and their life satisfaction a score between 1 and 10. In 2024, young people on Saba scored both their happiness and their life satisfaction at 7.4, on average. On Bonaire, young people gave their happiness a score of 7.5 and their life satisfaction a score of 7.1. On St. Eustatius, the scores were 7.1 and a 6.9, respectively.
Young people who had been bullied in the past twelve months gave lower scores for their well-being, on average, than those who had not been bullied. This difference was particularly noticeable on Bonaire and St Eustatius. On Bonaire, young people who had been bullied gave their happiness a score of 6.9 and their life satisfaction a score of 6.8. Among young people who had not been bullied in 2024, the average scores were 7.8 and 7.7, respectively. On St. Eustatius, these figures were 5.7 and 5.9 among young people who had been bullied, and 7.5 and 7.2 among those who had not been bullied. On Saba, there were hardly any differences between young people who had been bullied and those who had not.
Not all students were able to confide in someone regarding personal issues
It is vital to young people’s well-being that they can talk to someone about personal issues. In 2024, 69 percent of students on Bonaire said they could talk to someone they trust about personal issues. On Saba, this was 57 percent and on St Eustatius it was 54 percent. On average across the islands, young people who had been bullied in 2024 were less likely to talk to someone they trust than those who had not been bullied.
Papiamentu
A Papiamentu translation of this news release can be obtained from Statistics Netherlands’ office on Bonaire by sending a request by email to: caribischnederland@cbs.nl