A new survey being released Monday but the American Association of University Women found that sexual harassment is pervasive in American schools, with 48 percent of students grade 7-12 reporting being harassed in the 2010-2011 school year. And it’s not just that they’re getting harassed, it’s how they’re getting harassed— both in person and via texts, emails and other social media, MSNBC reports.

The survey included 1,002 girls and 963 boys from both public and private schools across the country.

Half the students who were harassed did nothing about it; 44 percent of the those who admitted to being harassers didn't think it was a big deal and 39 percent did it to be funny.

At a time when a lot of attention is focused on bullying, the report notes that the two can sometimes overlap but there are differences, including the fact that sexual harassment— “at a level which interferes with a student's education — is prohibited under the federal gender-equality legislation known as Title IX.”

Schools are more likely to promote bullying prevention and downplay sexual harassment.

Bill Bond, a school safety expert for the National Association of Secondary School Principals said the nature of harassment has changed, from attempts at sexual exploitation to students being hurtful and insulting.

“Words can cut a kid all the way to the heart,” Bond said. “And when it's on the computers and cell phones, there's no escape. It's absolutely devastating and vicious to a kid.”