In Spain, in 2023, one in ten students considered that there was bullying in their class and 64.6% believed that the main reason why they picked on another person was still physical, according to a study by the Ayuda Foundation. to Children and Adolescents at Risk, ANAR. The figure, still high, is lower than in previous years, which means that educational centers are doing good prevention work to combat this conflict.
What is bullying?
Bullying is a form of violence between two or more people that is characterized by being intentional and recurring. The victim feels defenseless against an attacker who has more physical, psychological or social power. The main form of violence is insult, which is the most frequent with 89.5% according to the ANAR Foundation. Although the harassed person can also be a victim of the spread of false rumors, theft of belongings, threats and social exclusion. “All these behaviors usually occur when there is no presence of adults, in a group and from the unconsciousness of detecting when something is wrong,” explains Marc Antonijuan, child psychopedagogist.
What are the main symptoms of bullying?
Although signs of bullying can be expressed in many ways, the most common are changes in habits such as loss of appetite or sleeping little. On the other hand, social isolation, that is, stopping meeting friends or the victim not wanting to go to school alone or not even wanting to go. “Apart from depression or anxiety, the victim often feels guilty because she believes that she has done something wrong, which causes low self-esteem and many insecurities caused by the harassment received,” says Antonijuan about psychological problems.
Forms of bullying
There are different forms of bullying. The most common is verbal harassment through insults, threats or ridicule. There is also physical bullying, which is characterized by aggressive and intimidating behavior on the part of the bully, which includes physical attacks such as hitting, tripping or group beatings. On the other hand, there is social bullying whose main objective is to prevent the victim from being part of the group, thus causing their social isolation. Likewise, sexual bullying consists of sexual abuse. This also includes homophobic bullying, which is when the abuse refers to the sexual orientation of the victim due to her homosexuality.
However, as a result of minors' increasingly earlier access to electronic devices, cyberbullying has become popular among adolescents. This consists of harassment through messaging applications and social networks, which can facilitate the anonymity of the harasser, and the audience and duration of the harassment is prolonged over time because many times the insult, ridicule or humiliation counts. with a video or an image that is published indefinitely on social networks. “Unlike face-to-face harassment, cyberbullying costs more to identify and has a greater impact on the victims,” says Diana Díaz, spokesperson for the ANAR Foundation.
How should you act in a bullying situation?
When detecting a possible case of bullying, the first thing to do is obtain as much information as possible: what is happening, how the bullying occurs, since when and at what times, by whom, … “The first detection is usually done at school, then the teacher makes an assessment of the bullying and if it is bullying, the family of the children involved must be informed," says Antonijuan. The school has the obligation to address the conflict through pedagogical work focused on repairing damage and, above all, preserving the will of the victim. “Restorative work has to involve the victim, the harasser and also the rest of the students who have observed the harassment and have not stopped it,” explains Maribel Sala, technician in the Inclusive Education Area of the Barcelona Education Consortium.
At the same time, the educational center is obliged to notify the education inspectorate, so that it can advise the teachers involved with good resources to propose a work plan to stop this situation. However, depending on the degree of violence in the conflict, the center often considers it necessary to open a protocol against the bully, which is why the different regional governments make protocols available to educational centers to stop bullying. Many times, its application is accompanied by the creation of a safety map to protect the harassed minor and the accompaniment of other classmates. Likewise, work is done with the bully with a possible change of group so that he does not coincide with the bullied minor or in very extreme cases he is expelled from class for a few days.
At the same time, through separate meetings, families are exposed to all the practices that the school has implemented to address bullying. “It's not easy to be told that your child is bullying or being bullied. For this reason, schools must accompany families during the process. Parents must establish a bridge of communication with their children to talk about their concerns and, as far as the victim's family is concerned, strengthen them again so that they can recover,” comments Antonijuan. For its part, the center will carry out gradual follow-up with the victim and more regularly with the harasser, to put closure to this conflict.
What if the case is not closed?
According to the professionals consulted, bullying must work through mediation and try to resolve the conflict in the educational center itself. On the other hand, the school cannot be held responsible for what happens outside, which is why many families decide to take legal action and denounce the harasser's family as responsible for certain behaviors that the minor would have carried out. Bullying attacks the dignity of minors and their fundamental rights, which is why Organic Law 8/2021 includes comprehensive protection for children and adolescents against violence. However, there are other behaviors such as injuries, threats, coercion or insults that are included in the Penal Code. In any case, criminal and civil proceedings increasingly seek to be able to encompass the conflict and set limits and regulations, especially in relation to cyberbullying, because it is the newest form of harassment.
The importance of prevention
“The best way to avoid a case of bullying before it occurs is prevention,” says Sala. In his opinion, to carry out good training we must take into account “all the actors, from teachers, students, entities related to education to families, who must be provided with resources and professionals to whom to contact. ”
From a young age, work at school is essential, promoting teamwork, respect, inclusion and peaceful conflict resolution. “If teachers educate the little ones by teaching what is right or wrong, preventive work is already being done, although it may not seem like it, because years later they will have an easy time detecting when a joke stops being a joke and becomes a lack of respect.” for the partner”, concludes Antonijuan.
In any case, the Government's anti-bullying telephone lines are open 24 hours a day and applications such as B-resol allow students to contact their teachers to alert them of a possible case of bullying.
