A high percentage of schoolchildren between 11 and 16 years have felt at some point a victim of bullying, mostly of a mild or not serious nature. A small percentage of them rate it as a serious situation that required the intervention of parents or teachers for its solution. In addition, most victims of bullying have never told an adult. In fact, Spain is one of the countries in Europe that is least recognized as having suffered bullying.
The pressure of the group and the need to be integrated, leads children to believe that they should not tell the episodes of bullying to adults (fear, shame or submission to which they are exposed), and this occurs from early ages (I've met harassed nine-year-old children who haven't told their parents, who have heard from third parties).
Given this situation, the National Police has just launched a campaign that aims to reach the school and family environment of schoolchildren, the objective of prevention and action against bullying behaviors. It is an action that is circulating very well through all media and social networks, and not only because of the importance of the message, but also because of the celebrity participation like Alberto Chicote, Risto Mejide, Pablo Ibáñez or Íker Casillas, whom the children of a Madrid school had the opportunity to greet personally.
During the past year, the National Police received 316 complaints related to events in the school environment throughout Spain, such as threats (63), injuries (213), degrading treatment (15), abuses (22) or ill-treatment of work without injury (5)
It's known that almost 54% of victims of bullying have symptoms of posttraumatic stresssuch as nightmares, anxiety, insomnia, flash back or panic; 55% suffer from depression and 53% have a negative image of themselves, according to the Cisneros Study on "Violence and Bullying." But contrary to what is believed, the harassed child is not a student lacking social skills or with any physical characteristic that accompanies him. Bullying may fall on any school.
The rise of new technologies; massive access to the Internet from mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets; applications such as whastapp, Line or snapchat, and the overcrowding in the use of social networks means that any fight or confrontation in a school hallway or in the courtyard of the institute is quickly uploaded to the Network, its dissemination is viralized, be magnified and victimization is perpetuated over time.
Cyberbullying is the most powerful group tool to execute bullying and manifests itself with insulting, humiliating and cruel messages; with threats; impersonating the identity of other colleagues to damage their reputation or friendships; revealing secrets, information or photos compromised or private, or intentionally excluding peers from online groups.
Victims can ask for help
The National Police gives talks in more than 5,800 schools throughout Spain about bullying, among other topics such as Internet risks, drug and alcohol use, or gender violence. The goal is for young people to perceive the importance of maintaining good emotional, emotional and treatment relationships with their peers and to be aware that some behaviors are constitutive of offenses or crimes. These talks are aimed at both victims, as aggressors or observers, since the attitude of the spectator can reinforce the stalker with his silence or stop the humiliation or vexation by communicating the facts to an adult, associations of child support or the National Police
The intention is to raise awareness of the importance of curbing these violent behaviors in classrooms. In addition to the continuous messages disseminated through social networks and videos made with protagonists of the world of communication, entertainment or sport, posters will be distributed during this campaign in all schools in Spain under the motto "All against bullying".
Specialized agents who attend schools will try to raise students' awareness in the following guidelines:
If you are a victim of some kind of harassment by a partner, tell an adult: ask for help.
You're not alone: parents, teachers and, if necessary, - in cases constituting a crime or offense - the police are with you to stop that situation.
Yes as a parent or teacher you detect that your child or student shows mood swings, he is sad, elusive, pretends illnesses to not go to school or has no friends, tries to talk with him to know what happens and how to intervene.
The victim should be made aware that is not inferior to anyone and create correct guidelines to respond to threats, humiliation or mistreatment of the stalker.
If you witness a bullying case: don't be complicit. Your silence magnifies the abuser and ratifies him in his behavior. Get involved and report.
If you receive files, videos or photos that humiliate a partner, or are intimate and private, do not participate in its dissemination: complaint.
If you think you are a victim of a crime or offense at your school, or know someone who is being harassed or harassed by other classmates, you can provide your information to the following email account attended by specialists from the National Police: [email protected]
Let's take action
I would not like to be overwhelming but in the awareness of society, we must add to the campaigns of mass dissemination, a clear willingness of schools to intervene, and of families to denounce if they are parents of victims, or collaborate if they are parents of stalkers. It’s everyone’s problem, and nod when we see the message on the computer or television screen, then look the other way if we know a close case, it will do little good.
So on our part I would like to make a call so that beyond retweeting, marking 'like', or commenting during the coffee break, we were able to collaborate effectively, because in cases of bullying the victims are very vulnerable, and this vulnerability (together with other factors such as learned helplessness) makes it difficult for them to count it, even if the message has repeatedly arrived.
Although the truth is that I believe that the talks conducted by the National Police can be effective if students observe that the center is willing to act accordingly, as happened in this Institute.
What can each of you do in front of bullying?
