The pandemic has generated a fundamental change in the way children and adolescents interact. We see increasing difficulties in interaction, conflict resolution, mediation, search for agreements.
Andres Benitez is coordinator of the psychosocial department of Fundación Educacional Nocedal
The latest surveys show that the issue of school violence and bullying is what causes the greatest fear and concern among parents and guardians.
It is normal that when boys and girls enter school, their caregivers are concerned that it will be a good year for them, and to avoid future problems that may arise, especially taking into account that 2022 was a year with many problems in the field of school life.
Given this, it is important to understand that, although bullying is a very frequent action in schools nationwide, not all conflicts are bullying. For it to be bullying, it must be towards a student permanently and with a harassing nature.
It is necessary to make this distinction, since when some isolated situation occurs in schools, parents tend to say that their child is a victim of bullying and, in many cases, this is not the case. In addition, it begins to label the student “as a victim of bullying” when many times it has more to do with teaching effective strategies for conflict resolution or mediation, rather than an intervention from victim to perpetrator.
If indeed there are recurring suspicions of bullying, it is It is essential to notify the person in charge of coexistence at the school. Evidence increasingly shows that it does not depend on carrying out an intervention among the affected students, but with the entire school community or class group, including parents.
Although there are specific protocols in schools to address situations like these, the approach to bullying requires teaching-training a series of socio-emotional skills and empathy to our students, in order to train students capable of facing and resolving conflicts. successfully.
The pandemic has generated a fundamental change in the way children and adolescents interact. We see increasing difficulties in interaction, conflict resolution, mediation, search for agreements, etc.
Parents are essential when it comes to dealing with bullying. first as protective agent: teaching at home with examples and words respect for the other members, transmitting the importance of respecting classmates and accepting the rules of the school. They are also essential when resolving conflicts: seeing that the more they are aligned with the school project, the more effective and quick are the real solutions that can be given to the problem.
The prevention of bullying depends on the entire school community, from students, parents, teachers, managers and education assistants. It is an active task that requires educating each time a problem arises in the interaction between students, with effective, fast strategies and, in more complex cases, with clear and known sanctions from the beginning.