The National Anti-Bullying Observatory has received 627 reports since its launch in 2020, with the majority of reports submitted in the initiative’s first year.
On January 30, 2020, the National Bullying Observatory, a platform for informally reporting incidents of “bullying” by the Plano i Association, was launched. Four years later, 627 complaints have been recorded, the majority of which occurred in 2020, with 407 complaints received in that year alone.
According to a report given to Luse by the Observatory’s scientific coordinator, the average age of the victims is 13.7 years, mostly girls. On the other hand, the aggressors were mostly boys with an average age of 13.3 years.
“In a significant percentage of cases, bullying is practiced by more than one person,” adds Sofia Neves, noting that the most common years of schooling are in years five and seven.
Reports often presented by education officials show that morning and afternoon breaks are the periods with the highest number of incidents and that “bullying” occurs most often in school playgrounds and courtyards, followed by classrooms and libraries.
Often this happens almost every day (53.3%), and in 21.4% of cases it is actually a reality that victims face on a daily basis.
Violence is almost always psychological in nature, but in many cases it is also social (63.6%), physical (52.3%), sexual (10.2%) and financial (5.1%).
According to reports, the most commonly cited reasons are the victims’ appearance and academic performance, while there are also those who suffer due to age, functional diversity and gender.
The results are almost always the same: anxiety, sadness, shame, and difficulty concentrating. But the consequences of the reported cases do not end there: in 43.1% of cases, the victims had to receive psychological support, and in 20.6% – medical assistance.
There were also more serious situations: some 82 reports said young people were at risk of death, and 34 reports required hospitalization.
The complaint form is available on the National Observatory on Bullying website at www.associacaoplanoi.org/observatorio-nacional-do-bullying.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.