A new map from the team at PA Requirements displays the locations in the U.S. where children are most likely to bully and be bullied. Unfortunately, bullying is a widespread issue in the United States, with more than a third of school-age children experiencing bullying last year. The study is based on data from the National Survey of Children’s Health. The map color-codes the percentage of children who have been bullied or engaged in bullying. The result is a map that gives us a full-color illustration of the depth and severity of the American bullying problem.

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The team found that children are most likely to be bullied in Montana. In that state, 55% of children were bullied at least once in the past year, a truly shocking number. Tragically, 3.6% of Montana children reported daily bullying. Wyoming and West Virginia followed Montana for the highest instances of bullying.

Overall, these 10 states had the highest rates of children reporting being bullied at least once in the past year:

1. Montana: 55.0%
2. Wyoming: 53.8%
3. Vermont: 50.5%
4. Utah: 49.5%
5. North Dakota: 49.1%
6. Maine: 49.0%
7. Wisconsin: 48.9%
8. Colorado: 48.7%
9. Idaho: 48.4%
10. South Dakota: 47.9%

Children are also most likely to be the bullies in Montana, which makes sense. A high rate of bullying can suggest a high number of bullies. Perhaps the victims go on to become the bullies. Studies suggest that bullying can be cyclical.

These 10 states have the highest percentages of children who have bullied someone else in the past year:

1. Montana: 25.7%
2. Wyoming: 24.2%
3. South Dakota: 24.2%
4. Maine: 23.0%
5. Iowa: 21.8%
6. Colorado: 21.7%
7. North Dakota: 21.6%
8. Vermont: 20.4%
9. Utah: 20.4%
10. Missouri: 20.3%

Bullying is damaging to a child’s development. It can occur in or out of school. The four forms of bullying are physical, verbal, cyberbullying, and social/relational bullying. Relational bullying targets the victim’s social standing and can take the form of malicious gossip and rumors or exclusion from social groups.

Adults around victims can help prevent bullying, and it’s up to these same adults to set a good example and create safe spaces for children at home and at school. Some of the top tips for the prevention of bullying include:

• Teaching children to recognize bullying and understand why it’s wrong.
• Helping children learn to confidently stand up to a bully by telling them to stop and walk away to get adult help.
• Encouraging children to talk to trusted adults about bullying.
• Fostering confidence in children by encouraging them to pursue their interests and be proud of who they are.
• Modeling good behaviors, like respect and kindness.

There’s no concrete way to completely eliminate bullying, but these strategies can help create an environment where bullying is stifled. Teachers, parents, daycare workers, counselors, and social workers should all be aware of how to recognize the signs of bullying and take steps toward prevention.

None of us wants to worry about scams, theft, and safety while on vacation, but it’s an unfortunate reality in the world of vacation home rentals. These scams can ruin vacations and have a lasting impact on the lives of victims. The team at Ooma created a helpful checklist of safety tips for travelers to help them avoid vacation rental scams and other dangers abroad. The list offers tips to help you before you arrive, after you check in, and provides awareness of safety by room, as well as general safety and emergency tips.

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Before booking, vacationers should make sure their rental choice is legitimate. There are many different ways that criminals use rentals to run scams. They’ll post false advertisements that exaggerate the luxuriousness of their rental. In some cases, it might not exist at all. They may also cancel a rental at the last minute without providing a refund. They may also try to convince their renter to switch to a poorly maintained property at the last minute. Other common ways to scam a renter for money are “free Wi-Fi” that steals information and fake menus for food delivery that harvest credit card information.

Once vacationers are aware of these scams, how can they protect themselves against them? Here are some of the tips the Ooma team offers:

• Verify the owner’s area code to make sure it matches the rental location. It’s a good sign if the rental agent offers multiple ways to contact them.
• Beware of any rental agents who try to pressure you to make a decision about renting. Always take your time when booking and be wary of pushy renters.
• Ask the rental owner questions about the local area. This can be a simple question about restaurants and attractions that help prove the person is renting to tourists in good faith.
• Compare the rental pictures with Google Maps Street View images. Exterior images should appear relatively the same and help prove that the rental is located at the listed address.
• Never share your banking information or Social Security number.
• Never pay in cash, wire transfer, or gift cards.
• Ensure your rental agreement includes a refund policy.
• Check the reviews and make sure they’re legitimate. There shouldn’t be too few or too many based on the age of the listing.

The team offers a lot of general tips, too. They advise bringing a flashlight and putting tracker tags on your luggage. Only use private guest networks or a VPN when using the Internet. Check for slip-resistant surfaces and appropriate electrical outlets in the bathrooms. The rental should also have emergency exit routes, fire extinguishers, and smoke detectors. Verify that all doors and windows are properly secured. Platforms like Vrbo and Airbnb require renters to inform all guests about the presence and type of surveillance devices, which can be used to protect you, but shouldn’t infringe upon your privacy. Make sure to check your rental platform’s safety tips and policies as well.

The team at Qualtrics released a fascinating new study on the 100 most common ways people are using AI in 2025. They gathered their data from the Harvard Business Review and showed how each use rose or fell in popularity since 2024. As AI continues to grow, improve, and infiltrate more areas of life, these uses are sure to change. But this graphic serves as a great study of the state of AI usage in 2025. Netizens can use this chart to get inspiration for incorporating AI into their next project or use it as a reference when studying AI’s impact on society.

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The team found that AI use could be separated into six broad categories. Here are the areas, along with how much use has increased since 2024:

Personal and Professional Support

• 30% (up from 17% in 2024)

Content Creation and Editing

• 18% (down from 23% in 2024)

Learning and Education

• 16% (steady from 2024)

Technical Assistance and Troubleshooting

• 16% (steady from 2024)

Creativity and Recreation

• 11% (down from 13% in 2024)

Research, Analysis and Decision Making

• 9% (down from 10% in 2024)

The most popular and fastest-growing category of AI use is in personal and professional support. This category can encompass many different ways to use AI, such as scheduling, planning workouts, prepping for job interviews, organizing life, and even as a coach through parenting and interpersonal challenges. In fact, the number one use for AI in 2025 is as a therapist or counselor. Many professionals are concerned about this widespread use for therapy since an AI can’t think or empathize as a human can. The average AI user may not realize that AI is a predictive text model that bases its responses on probability and statistics rather than logic and compassion.

Although this use case is declining, many people still use AI for content creation and editing. This can include composing emails and social media posts, experimenting with blogging and creative writing, creating ad copy, structuring business plans, and more. AI is also used to check for errors and refine tone and writing style. Many value preserving their human voice, and this use case has fallen in ranking.

AI is often used for tech assistance, with an increasing number of people using it to create code. AI’s ability to develop workable HTML or automate IT tasks and debug human-written code has vastly improved, so it’s no surprise this use has gained popularity over the past year. AI can be used for less serious purposes, too. People like to experiment with ideas and gain inspiration from AI technology. They use it to compose poems and bedtime stories, get recipe ideas, or plan their next Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

This graphic makes it clear that AI and its uses are constantly evolving to serve people in new ways and adapt to the changing needs of different users. It’s sure to change and adapt in ways we won’t always predict.