Overcoming bullying
School bullying is a reality present in our educational settings. It is a group phenomenon and, therefore, everyone's responsibility. It is a type of mistreatment that can be linked to a disruption of the inner world (thoughts and emotions) and the personal development of children and young people, regardless of their role within the group.
Childhood and adolescence are already vulnerable times, and when we add to that the reality of many children and adolescents living with a mental health disorder, this vulnerability increases. When it's a case of peer bullying, the likelihood of feeling unable to cope with such emotional complexity is even greater. Who wouldn't feel vulnerable in such an experience? Who wouldn't wonder if they could overcome all those emotions connected to such distress?
What is cyberbullying?
We have the opportunity to do better than we know how so far.
We cannot afford to ignore the emotional consequences for the person in the victim role. Nor can we overlook the emotional consequences for those who have taken on the role of aggressor, and we cannot allow bystanders (families, educators, and groups) to develop their emotional capacity by experiencing and perpetuating this pain.
Promoting good support when we detect a case of school bullying implies a positive influence on academic success, coexistence, one's own sense of life and healthy living.
In your preventative approach, we suggest you consider emotional education as an asset. It's key to influencing and reinforcing the emotions, thoughts, and attitudes that help restore well-being. With a solid socio-emotional foundation, identifying and addressing issues becomes easier.
Leveraging our strengths as a community helps us respond using our own skills, to put an end to to violence by raising awareness , Reorienting the focus by choosing well-being and, thus, being able to initiate pain repair processes in order to carry out restoration (the roles in the group, individual needs, the fair and dignified experience of relationships, etc.).
How can we provide care with the intention of repairing the damage? What should we keep in mind from the perspective of young people, as well as from the perspectives of families and institutions? How can we approach bullying with a restorative mindset? What tools help overcome bullying?
How to help students overcome a bullying situation:
- Promote impeccable and non-violent language , encourage tools that promote dialogue such as peace circles or word wheels, promote restorative justice, collective responsibility , a focus on non-discrimination and appreciation of diversity .
- To offer socio-emotional prevention strategies that allow strengthening the capacities and strengths in the positive resolution of conflicts .
- Boost self-esteem .
- Having resources available for observing well-being and relationships , empowering young people to communicate alerts that, once detected, are quickly communicated to the rest of the educational team and all people involved in the resolution.
- Pay attention to possible warning signs: lack of attendance at school, changes in communication and expression, nervousness and worries, psychosomatic symptoms, etc.
- To create spaces where it is easy to express group experiences, through listening and dialogue, allowing people to feel. To attend to their needs by understanding their emotional world. Without judgment.
- Do not criminalize the person in the role of aggressor and avoid at all times the re-victimization of the person who has been placed in the role of victim.
- Connecting with the pain (the pain that living within violence generates in all of us) and helping to understand emotions and thoughts that help to repair the discomfort and restore well-being (physical, mental and emotional).
- Accompanying healing . For example, confronting guilt through forgiveness.
- Promoting socio-emotional skills such as resilience to rebuild roles and ways of relating . For example, leaving behind the role of aggressor to build new, non-violent relationships.
Article in collaboration with Equip SEER (Salut i Educació Emocional) and PDA Bullying (Prevenció, Detecció, Actuació) .
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