One in 17 students says they have been bullied and 1.2% admit to being bullies

Around one in 17 students aged between 11 and 18 say they have suffered bullying and 1.2% admit to having been bullies at some point, according to a report released today.

The conclusions are contained in the report of the Working Group to Combat Bullying in Schools, presented today, which surveyed 31,133 young people between the ages of 11 and 18, from the 2nd cycle to secondary education.

According to the results, presented by researcher Manuela Veríssimo in a session that took place at Escola Secundária Rainha Dona Leonor, in Lisbon, 5.9% of students reported that they had felt like they had been a victim of bullying.

There are more than 1,800 students and, on average, they represent about one in every 17 students.

On the other hand, only 1.2% (around 370) admit to having been a victim of bullying and 12.4% (more than 3,800) have witnessed situations of violence.

According to Manuela Veríssimo, author of the study, this is a phenomenon that is, above all, relational and the data places Portugal in a much more worrying situation compared to other countries, such as Finland, Denmark and Japan, where the percentage of victims is often below 2%.

When it comes to cyberbullying, there are fewer young people who consider having been aggressors (0.8%) and fewer witnesses (5.7%), but more victims (6.1%).

Unlike bullying, in these cases the phenomenon tends to be associated with age and the older the students are, the more frequent the situations become, a trend that the researcher explains with the greater familiarity and use of digital technologies.

Another trend highlighted by Manuela Veríssimo is the above-average percentage of young people of another gender, neither female nor male, who identified themselves as both victims and aggressors, a fact that the author says deserves attention.

The working group was created in September by the Ministries of Education, Science and Innovation and Youth and Modernization, with the aim of developing strategies to prevent and combat bullying in schools.

In addition to the results of the survey, the report also includes a set of recommendations, with a particular focus on prevention, which include, for example, the creation of specialized teams in schools to act in conflict mediation and provide support to victims, and a focus on training professionals.

On the other hand, the working group also suggests the creation of programs for the acquisition of socio-emotional skills, special attention to the increasing diversity in schools, recognizing that many cases arise from an inability to accept difference, and the review of the student's status.

One of the recommendations highlighted by Maria João Horta, deputy director-general and representative of the Directorate-General for Education in the working group, was the creation of a support line aimed at students.

“In Portugal we have a victim support line, but it does not specify these situations, which have very specific contexts taking into account the ages of the victims and the attacker”, he explained, stressing that it must be a line with multiple access channels that allows support to be given to victims and cases to be forwarded to school teams.

At least this recommendation should be accepted by the Government, which today committed, without setting a deadline, to creating a support line for students who are victims of bullying.

Around one in 17 students aged between 11 and 18 say they have suffered bullying and 1.2% admit to having been bullies at some point, according to a report released today.

The conclusions are contained in the report of the Working Group to Combat Bullying in Schools, presented today, which surveyed 31,133 young people between the ages of 11 and 18, from the 2nd cycle to secondary education.

According to the results, presented by researcher Manuela Veríssimo in a session that took place at Escola Secundária Rainha Dona Leonor, in Lisbon, 5.9% of students reported that they had felt like they had been a victim of bullying.

There are more than 1,800 students and, on average, they represent about one in every 17 students.

On the other hand, only 1.2% (around 370) admit to having been a victim of bullying and 12.4% (more than 3,800) have witnessed situations of violence.

According to Manuela Veríssimo, author of the study, this is a phenomenon that is, above all, relational and the data places Portugal in a much more worrying situation compared to other countries, such as Finland, Denmark and Japan, where the percentage of victims is often below 2%.

When it comes to cyberbullying, there are fewer young people who consider having been aggressors (0.8%) and fewer witnesses (5.7%), but more victims (6.1%).

Unlike bullying, in these cases the phenomenon tends to be associated with age and the older the students are, the more frequent the situations become, a trend that the researcher explains with the greater familiarity and use of digital technologies.

Another trend highlighted by Manuela Veríssimo is the above-average percentage of young people of another gender, neither female nor male, who identified themselves as both victims and aggressors, a fact that the author says deserves attention.

The working group was created in September by the Ministries of Education, Science and Innovation and Youth and Modernization, with the aim of developing strategies to prevent and combat bullying in schools.

In addition to the results of the survey, the report also includes a set of recommendations, with a particular focus on prevention, which include, for example, the creation of specialized teams in schools to act in conflict mediation and provide support to victims, and a focus on training professionals.

On the other hand, the working group also suggests the creation of programs for the acquisition of socio-emotional skills, special attention to the increasing diversity in schools, recognizing that many cases arise from an inability to accept difference, and the review of the student's status.

One of the recommendations highlighted by Maria João Horta, deputy director-general and representative of the Directorate-General for Education in the working group, was the creation of a support line aimed at students.

“In Portugal we have a victim support line, but it does not specify these situations, which have very specific contexts taking into account the ages of the victims and the attacker”, he explained, stressing that it must be a line with multiple access channels that allows support to be given to victims and cases to be forwarded to school teams.

At least this recommendation should be accepted by the Government, which today committed, without setting a deadline, to creating a support line for students who are victims of bullying.

Around one in 17 students aged between 11 and 18 say they have suffered bullying and 1.2% admit to having been bullies at some point, according to a report released today.

The conclusions are contained in the report of the Working Group to Combat Bullying in Schools, presented today, which surveyed 31,133 young people between the ages of 11 and 18, from the 2nd cycle to secondary education.

According to the results, presented by researcher Manuela Veríssimo in a session that took place at Escola Secundária Rainha Dona Leonor, in Lisbon, 5.9% of students reported that they had felt like they had been a victim of bullying.

There are more than 1,800 students and, on average, they represent about one in every 17 students.

On the other hand, only 1.2% (around 370) admit to having been a victim of bullying and 12.4% (more than 3,800) have witnessed situations of violence.

According to Manuela Veríssimo, author of the study, this is a phenomenon that is, above all, relational and the data places Portugal in a much more worrying situation compared to other countries, such as Finland, Denmark and Japan, where the percentage of victims is often below 2%.

When it comes to cyberbullying, there are fewer young people who consider having been aggressors (0.8%) and fewer witnesses (5.7%), but more victims (6.1%).

Unlike bullying, in these cases the phenomenon tends to be associated with age and the older the students are, the more frequent the situations become, a trend that the researcher explains with the greater familiarity and use of digital technologies.

Another trend highlighted by Manuela Veríssimo is the above-average percentage of young people of another gender, neither female nor male, who identified themselves as both victims and aggressors, a fact that the author says deserves attention.

The working group was created in September by the Ministries of Education, Science and Innovation and Youth and Modernization, with the aim of developing strategies to prevent and combat bullying in schools.

In addition to the results of the survey, the report also includes a set of recommendations, with a particular focus on prevention, which include, for example, the creation of specialized teams in schools to act in conflict mediation and provide support to victims, and a focus on training professionals.

On the other hand, the working group also suggests the creation of programs for the acquisition of socio-emotional skills, special attention to the increasing diversity in schools, recognizing that many cases arise from an inability to accept difference, and the review of the student's status.

One of the recommendations highlighted by Maria João Horta, deputy director-general and representative of the Directorate-General for Education in the working group, was the creation of a support line aimed at students.

“In Portugal we have a victim support line, but it does not specify these situations, which have very specific contexts taking into account the ages of the victims and the attacker”, he explained, stressing that it must be a line with multiple access channels that allows support to be given to victims and cases to be forwarded to school teams.

At least this recommendation should be accepted by the Government, which today committed, without setting a deadline, to creating a support line for students who are victims of bullying.