21% of the students at least once a week are the target of jokes on the part of classmates. Out of these, 6% said that their classmates daily teased them. Almost half of the students who experienced bullying situations said the person who initiated the conflict was either older, taller or considered themselves smarter that the target of bullying, shows a study of knowledge, attitudes, practices in the prevention and combating of bullying in the schools of the Republic of Moldova, which was presented in a news conference, IPN reports.
Valeria Munteanu, marketing consultant at Magenta Consulting, stated that 24% of the students who took part in the poll said that they witnessed a series of situations of bullying. Almost half said they witnessed several such situations, while each fourth student said that they didn’t see such situations. Most of the students who took part in the poll agree with the fact that the weaker students should be offered assistance at school. Fewer students said that they would help a person who is the target of bullying. “Given that they regret the bullying situations occurring at school, over half of them agree that the students should learn to defend themselves,” explained the consultant.
The students were also asked how often the past year they saw images or read on the Internet information about themselves posted or written by other persons to negatively affect their image. 78% said that they never witnessed such situations, but lower numbers said that it happened to them once or twice the past 12 months (9%), at least once a month (3%), at least once a week (2%), daily or almost daily (1%). With the advancement of age, the teenagers tend to speak about their problems on the Internet with friends of a similar age, not yet with family members, said Valeria Munteanu.
Sorina Petrică, psychologist from Romania, noted that both the students and the parents and teachers often meet with difficulties in correctly identifying and differentiating between behaviors associated with bullying. “The study showed that among students, for example, more than half of the respondents correctly identified bullying situations, but failed to distinguish between bullying behaviors from other types of aggressive behaviors. This shows that there is yet confusion in the school population and an information campaign is therefore necessary,” stated Sorina Petrică.
Diana Prisăcaru, projects coordinator at the Alliance of Active NGOs in the field of Child and Family Social Protection, said that this study comes to inform the school community, the authorities and parents about the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the school community with regard to bullying and to serve as a basis of evidence for activities that will be carried out as part of the project “Together for High-Quality Education” of which this study forms part. These include the participatory development of an analytical note with recommendations for the authorities and the conduct of a national information and awareness-raising campaign centering on bullying.
The study was conducted in the framework of the project “Together for High-Quality Education” that is implemented by the Alliance of Active NGOs in the field of Child and Family Social Protection. It covered students and also teachers and psychologists who were questioned about their knowledge, attitudes and practices concerning bullying. There was also carried out a qualitative study with profound interviews.
