Hong Kong schools handled an average of 496 bullying cases each academic year from 2022 to 2025 – a 32 per cent jump compared with the previous three years, according to the Education Bureau. A youth group attributed the increase to greater reporting driven by heightened mental health awareness, but also students struggling to distinguish playful jokes from bullying. According to the bureau, public primary and secondary schools recorded an average of 496 bullying cases each year between 2022 and 2025, up 32 per cent from the 377 recorded annually from 2019 to 2022. The bureau told the Legislative Council in 2023 that the number of cases involving school bullying, including cyberbullying, from the 2019-20 to 2021-22 school years was 411, 306 and 413 respectively. The average number for these three school years was 377.