Bullying in Children's Lives: Can School Prevent Bullying?

The topic of school bullying affects both the child and the adults around him.

Children are not able to prevent bullying and cope with the consequences of aggression from their peers on their own, so the help of elders in this matter plays a key role.

We spoke with the founder of the Vector School, Denis Bikbaev , and asked whether a school can prevent bullying among students.

An education expert has revealed the differences between the approaches to preventing bullying in private and public schools.

As it turns out, the positive experience of private educational organizations can also be implemented in municipal institutions.

What is the reason for bullying?

According to the expert, absolutely any student can face bullying. Many people mistakenly believe that bullying is aimed at “ridiculing” differences – for example, a child wears glasses or is the fattest in the class.

But in reality, the same student may end up in the role of an outcast or emerge from it in the same group of children when the class teacher changes.

"It is important for children to feel part of a group. When teenagers are united by one goal, idea or activity, there is no bullying. But if there is no cohesion and no common interests, children begin to look for their own ways to get together in a group. "Being friends against" one person in this case is the simplest solution."

The situation is reinforced by the “bad example” that is broadcast today by social networks and popular TV series, and the immature psyche of children perceives them as the norm.

By understanding these processes, the school staff – administration, teaching staff, school psychologist – can regulate the issue of bullying even before the problem arises.

How Schools Deal With Bullying

The problem of bullying among students is equally important for both private and public educational institutions. However, private schools have a number of advantages that allow them to prevent and promptly identify episodes of aggression among students.

“The main goal of the education system is not to combat bullying, but to prevent this problem.”

Why is bullying much less common in private organizations? There are 5 reasons.

1. Small classes. Private school teachers have an undeniable advantage – each class has no more than 15 students. This means that the teacher has more time to work with each student individually and with the entire group together.

2. A qualified psychologist. A private educational institution always has a psychologist's office, while in municipal schools it remains nominal or is completely absent. A state school is not always ready to allocate additional funds for a qualified specialist, although it is his area of responsibility that includes work with the psychological state of children.

"Any issue is resolved when there is a responsible person - someone who understands the existing problem, is able to understand the reasons and build a plan for further work. If no one takes responsibility, then it will not be possible to find a solution."

3. Collective tasks. As was said above, the reason for bullying is not that Vasya is different from Petya and Misha, but that the kids do not have a unifying interest or task.

The lack of community forces students to gather in micro-groups. Collective tasks and common events help to cope with the situation. During such activities, it is easier for the teacher to identify negative tendencies and work through them in a timely manner.

In group lessons, children learn the basic principles of successful relationships: communication skills, goodwill, trust and mutual assistance. Joint activities have a positive impact on the classroom environment.

4. No extra responsibilities. Teachers in private schools are freed from unnecessary reporting. Teachers in public schools often do not have enough time to communicate with students due to the additional workload. This aspect requires evaluation and revision, because often paperwork displaces the most important thing - caring for students.

5. Atmosphere among students. From all of the above, the following fact follows: private schools have a more extensive toolkit for creating and maintaining a favorable microclimate in classes. This factor directly affects how interaction and communication between students will develop.

Parental involvement and control by the director of the educational institution play an important role. The work of the administration in this case comes down to the introduction of effective methods for identifying and preventing bullying.

“Teachers in a private school have the opportunity to notice the process at its very infancy and resolve it in a timely manner at the level of the class teacher and psychologist with the support of parents.”

The state school has room for improvement, and the experience of private institutions can be a great help. When one person, namely the director, coordinates the work of several school buildings and kindergartens, he does not have sufficient resources for preventive measures, which in matters of bullying comes first.

Although the leverage of influence of teachers in private and municipal schools differs little, private education was able to find a special approach and in practice proved the effectiveness of some transformations of the educational process.

Bullying always occurs in a group, which means that you need to work with a group. And as practice shows, the most effective method is the prevention of bullying, not working with its consequences.

Earlier we talked about how to understand that a man is indifferent to a woman .