More than one-third of children ages 10-18 in a new study report that they bully their friends "at moderate levels." However, over 40% told researchers from Queen's and York University they never bully anyone.

Researchers studying over 870 children found that bullying seems to drop off as children get into high school. Less than 10% admitted to "consistently high levels of bullying from elementary to the end of high school." The majority stopped when they entered high school.

Psychology professor Wendy Craig, lead author of the study, found that young bullies had conflicts with their parents and peers, and lacked a sense of right and wrong. They tended to pick friends who were bullies, too.

Dr. Craig and her colleagues are trying to design programs for this small, high-risk group, in order to prevent "a career path of bullying that leads to numerous criminal and relationship problems in adolescence and adulthood."

This study appears in the journal Child Development.

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Labels: bullying, criminals, relationships