Africa-Press – Cape verde. Psychologist Rosa Sena argued today that it is necessary to work on social and personal skills to combat bullying among students, considering that this is the best way to combat this phenomenon.
“If we work on these skills, we will prevent students from resolving their situations by fighting and thus we would be contributing to a more just, balanced and healthy society”, stated Rosa Sena, in an interview with Inforpress, on the occasion of World Anti-Bullying Day, which is celebrated today, October 20th.
This specialist also argued that working on self-esteem, self-confidence, problem-solving, knowing how to communicate assertively, demanding one’s rights, knowing how to say no when necessary, without offending others, knowing how to share and express one’s opinion, are other factors that help combat bullying.
The psychologist stressed that it is necessary to work with students so that each one knows how to position themselves in society and adopt correct behavior when relating to others.
The psychologist, who provides Psychological Support services to students at Pedro Gomes Secondary School in Achada Santo António, said that victims do not usually report this phenomenon. According to the specialist, only in exceptional cases or if the teacher and a colleague notice a “more serious” situation will the school take action, already in possession of information about cases of bullying. But victims, she said, rarely report the situation. “Bullying is considered a silent phenomenon. Because often, the aggressor has great power over the victims”, she highlighted, stating that they are “afraid” to report it so as not to suffer further reprisals or more aggression. “But also because often the victims are ashamed to tell”, she says. The same source clarifies that anyone can be subject to bullying, but that children and adolescents are more prone to the phenomenon because they are often educated through punishments, name-calling, shouting, and a greater amount of violence.
This official took the opportunity to warn parents and guardians to rethink the way they transmit values, educate and correct their children, other than through punishment, considering that this is “not effective” in changing their behavior.
Rosa Sena highlighted some factors that make people more prone to being victims of bullying, namely their height, disability, being introverted, the worst or best student in the class, having few friends at school, being exposed to conflicts or violence in the home and family environment.
According to the psychologist, there are some signs that may indicate that a particular student is being bullied.
“When their behavior changes quickly, they become isolated, introspective, their level of aggression increases, they perform poorly at school, they resist going to school,” she said.
Rosa Sena said that the high school where she works has already reported cases, but that they are not frequent, and when they do happen, it is because the situation is already more complicated.
To celebrate this day, she left a message to parents and guardians that it is “important” to educate their children and also to pass on all the information about what is right and wrong, in an assertive way, without having to resort to punishment, chastisement, shouting and verbal violence, which are constant behaviors in society.
As for the population, she said that they need to be more tolerant, to be careful with the way they communicate and relate to others.
“We need more tolerance, empathy, respect and to work with assertive communication, both for the victims and for those who tend to be a little more aggressive,” she stressed.
Inforpress also spoke to three students who were victims of bullying by their classmates at Pedro Gomes High School. They said they felt “sad” because they were the butt of jokes at school.
Everyone has their own situation. Pedro Semedo said he was called “chubby” and Mayra and Sandra because of their hair and height.
They said that there are many cases of students who practice bullying at this school.
World Anti-Bullying Day is a day whose objective is to draw the attention of schools, families and communities to the need for a culture of respect, empathy and safety in the school environment and online.
Bullying is a problem that consists of aggressive behavior, whether physical or psychological, towards someone and that, as a rule, happens deliberately and repeatedly.
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