Countering bullying

The sordid word “bullying”, spoken when children return from school is circulating again, as if it were a new problem every time. Usually it is uttered when it’s already too late, and although it is not a recent phenomenon, too little is known about it among teachers and parents. “Today bullying is not confined only within schools (among students, by students against teachers or viceversa), it also emerges in situations where people are more or less forced to live together”, Matty van der Meulen, developmental psychology researcher at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, told SIR. Places of work, prisons, nursing homes, sports clubs throughout the world, not only in Europe, are among the areas where bullying takes places. What is the root of this social disease? “The fight for power and group authority, secured by force and bullying”. Whether it is cyber-bullying or abuse with sexual connotations, ridicule, marginalization or physical abuse, a recent research conducted by Groningen university under the guidance of Professor René Veenstre on the phenomenon of bullying in primary and secondary schools (“Bullying as a group process”) shows that it is not an individual problem. It’s a group process: one takes the initiative while others assist and “strengthen” the bully. Bullying can be countered only when the entire group feels responsible and all the members of the group are willing to change with the indispensable help of the teachers at school. Available resources. Every European Country has put into place active resources. Spain adopted the method Monité based on videogame, along with didactic guides and an activity paper for parents, teachers and children aged 6-11 to learn to respect others, with appropriate language for digital natives. In France the ministry for education launched the project “against bullying in schools”, a prevention plan with related tools and a platform with materials, sharing experiences in schools, emergency numbers and an annual competition for young people: “Mobilizing against bullying”. In Ireland “Beat the bully” is a similar virtual place with suggestions to identify the bullies with links to various help centres. The Donegal county is organizing the second anti-bullying exhibition of works made by children for other children, while in 1996 the University of Dublin created an anti-bullying research centre with a set of surveys, experiences and formative seminars for teachers and educators alike. The Olweus program was launched in Norway in 1986, while in recent years Finland developed KiVa, the anti-bullying programme introduced also in countries such as Holland, Estonia, Wales and Italy. There are 61 anti-bullying initiatives currently underway in schools in Italy, said Matty van der Meulen, while England adopted 41 similar measures already in 2010, according to a survey. In the meantime were set up European networks with international programs such as SonetBull and the European Anti-Bullying Network aimed at “joining efforts” and “increasing awareness” on the problem. Methods that do not work. There is no “medicine” that guarantees a downsizing of the victims (considering the variables regarding age, gravity of the case and kind of violence suffered, as many as 1 every ten children fall victims of this form of prevarication in France, 1 in 4 in England, 1 in 3 in The Netherlands, 1 in 7 in Italy). Many of the programs developed so far don’t assure effective, long-lasting results. For example, said Matty van der Meulen, a committee of the ministry of education has examined 61 anti-bullying programs, and “only 13 of them were considered promising”, although their effectiveness still needs to be evaluated. First of all because bullying is hard to unmask, then it is necessary to heal the victim from his wounds, to address the bully’s relational fragility and that of the conniving group. Among all the methods adopted so far, the most effective appears to be Finland’s KiVa, that proved successful also in other cultural contexts, extending beyond the Nordic one where it was created. Why does KiVa work? “First of all because it’s an intervention that takes place at various levels: the pupils, the class and the school as a whole”, said Matty van der Meulen. KiVa first of all unmasks and works on the various figures involved instead of focusing only on support and defence of the victims. In addition to the individual bully and the victim there are those who act as “assistants” of the bully, those who encourage him even only by laughing, those who defend the victim and those who see or know but do nothing (“the outsiders”). Through these various figures “bullying goes on”. KiVa works in a team to define other criteria of popularity and leadership thereby disintegrating those elements underlying the popularity of the dominating bully. Strong emphasis is placed on “training the teachers to identify the bully and carry out determined action against bullying”, for example through attentive supervision during intervals and breaks. All this is coupled by informative activity and the involvement of the parents.