What Should A Teacher Do In The Face Of Bullying?
Faced with bullying, teachers must report and report the situation to other education agents and professionals. Thus, it will be necessary to implement a series of organizational and institutional measures, in addition to actions and decisions, both individual and collective, that help to eradicate a complex social problem such as bullying .
What is bullying and what does it consist of?
The term bullying is derived from the English word bully, whose meaning in Portuguese is ‘bully’. It refers to harassment, persecution or psychological, verbal or physical abuse produced among students, and its particularity is the fact that it occurs repeatedly and over time.
In addition, a situation of bullying or school harassment can occur both at school, inside the classroom and in the schoolyard, or outside it, that is, on the street or through social networks. A bullying situation always involves a relationship of abuse of power and intimidation on the part of an aggressor student and another student who is the victim.
The behaviors that cause victims suffering are varied and include insults, humiliation, nicknames, insults and beatings. They constitute situations that affect everyday and academic life, affecting all social, personal and psychological spheres of victims. Thus, it manifests itself in difficulties in school performance and causes problems of anxiety, depression and social isolation.
Currently, bullying is an issue of great concern for parents and educators, and eradicating it is a real educational and social challenge. It is a complex problem to be solved and that responds to multiple causes and social, educational and cultural factors.
How should a teacher act in the face of bullying?
If a teacher witnesses or suspects a bullying situation , he/she must act immediately and undertake a series of intervention strategies , both individual and institutional.
Firstly, the teacher must be thoroughly informed about the possible situation of bullying , which involves collecting data on what has happened, or is happening, since when and who the people involved are.
On the other hand, he should also assess the seriousness of the situation and take action, such as speaking privately with the aggressor and the victim, or otherwise informing both the school authorities and the parents of the students involved about the bullying situation .
In addition, it is necessary to consider that in many cases of bullying it is necessary to seek out or refer students and their families to other professionals. In this case, they would be specialists such as psychologists or therapists, trained to face the situation and to identify and work on the possible causes and consequences, since a bullying situation has a great impact on life, both for the victim and for the aggressor.
The coexistence plan of schools and measures to deal with bullying
Some schools include a coexistence plan in their Educational Project. It is a document that establishes criteria, objectives and prevention and action procedures for the coexistence among school members. Thus, the coexistence plan specifies the different strategies and measures to be implemented to deal with bullying.
Teachers, students and families facing bullying
As stated above, there are concrete and specific measures that teachers must take to combat bullying . However, a fundamental strategy is for teachers to implement teaching-learning situations that aim to prevent bullying .
Thus, it is essential to plan activities to promote values, as well as activities that go deeper into the impact of bullying on its victims at a physical, mental and psychological level. In this sense, teaching aimed at developing emotional intelligence and promoting behaviors of denouncing and being empathetic with colleagues who suffer bullying is important.
Finally, what a teacher must do in the face of bullying is to count on the support of all school agents and families, as it is not possible to face bullying only with isolated actions and decisions. To try to eradicate bullying in our society, it is required a social conscience and a deep institutional, professional and family coordination.
