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SALT LAKE CITY — Thousands of high school students who have been bullied have brought guns to school, according to a new study.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 200,000 victims of bullying had brought weapons, including firearms, knives or clubs, to school at least once during the previous month.
A Utah therapist explains victims feel the need to protect themselves when bystanders do not take a stand.
“If no one is kind of standing up for them, they feel powerless, and it makes sense they go to something that makes them feel more powerful,” said Julie Hanks with Wasatch Family Therapy.
The study found students who were bullied were 49 times more likely to bring a weapon to school and 34 times more likely to have carried a gun within the last 30 days.
In Utah schools, the latest research shows from 2012 to 2013, 35 incidents of bullying were reported.
Two firearms and eight weapons were brought to school, but whether or not those students had been bullied is unknown.
