Mothers make more than half of the harassing phone calls

The fight against bullying it is something that incubates all the entities of society, from the ordinary citizens, to the students and even to the governmental powers. In fact, from the Ministry of Education, a telephone was set up to be able to denounce these cases and set up the machinery to fight against this situation.

But who are those who most use this tool to fight against bullying? According to the data offered by the Ministry of Education, more than half of the calls received by this telephone were made by mothers of child victims of this situation. Results that come after the first six months of operation of this tool and that have been presented at the First State Congress of School Coexistence in Sigüenza.

Little complaints from the victims

The Ministry of Education indicates that 6 out of 10 calls the telephone against the harassment are made by mothers of victims. This translates into 61% of the 15,000 received by this body. Some data that contradict the use made by children who suffer these cases in their day to day, who seem to still be afraid to inform the authorities of their situation.

Just a 4% of the total of the calls were made by victims of bullying. Along with these data, have also mentioned the problems that often arise for the people who serve this phone, the first of them create an atmosphere of conversation with the interlocutor. Something that those responsible for this service consider very difficult.

According to Alcalá BC, the company responsible for managing this service, most people who call this phone are presented nervous and sore. In addition, the amount of questions that must be asked to gather information causes this conversation to become an interrogation for the person on the other side of the line.

The profile of the victim

The data presented by the Ministry of Education have also served to draw up a profile of the victim based on the data collected by callers and the information they provide. In 54% of cases, they are usually less than 11 and 13 years belonging to a middle class family. Those who suffer from this situation tend to show more confidence in their teachers than in their parents when it comes to telling their problem.

The profile of the harasser also tends to be between 11 and 13 years old, although in this case it is the children who most harass the victims since only one 18% of these are female. At this point, the Ministry of Education is asking both schools and families to participate together to fight against bullying by addressing the situation of children, both at school and at home.

These are some signals which may indicate that a child is a victim of harassment:

- Very clear changes in behavior and no apparent explanation.

- Usually makes excuses to avoid school or the institute.

- Decreased appetite-

- Constant state of sadness: lost looks, isolation, the child becomes more introverted.

- Ask to be accompanied to school and try to postpone the time to enter the classroom.

- Presents problems to fall asleep.

Damián Montero