“Bullying is like a drug”

“Bullying is like a drug”

Bullying is not an individual problem, but always a social phenomenon.

Michael has become famous. His face can be seen on photo montages, his appearance is discussed on social media and even his own WhatsApp group has been set up for him. Their name reveals that the twelve-year-old student is going through a very difficult time: “How can we get rid of Michael”.

Michael, whose name was changed by the Children and Youth Advocate (KiJA) in Upper Austria, is a victim of bullying. One of many. Around 4,000 individual consultations and assistance are carried out by KiJA every year, a third of them for bullying.

Bullying in the school environment is clearly the experience of violence that children and young people experience most frequently, says Christine Winkler-Kirchberger, the state’s youth advocate. People who are different and unable to defend themselves are bullied. Specifically, young people would be affected by bullying because of their weight, their appearance, their origin or the color of their skin.

“Raising Awareness Before Criminal Law”

“Bullying doesn’t stop by itself. It keeps getting worse. For those who practice it, it’s like a drug,” says Christoph Göttl, a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry and trauma therapist in Graz.

Experts agree that relying on criminal law alone is not enough to prevent violence. “With regard to violence in schools and in terms of prevention, there is a need for an understanding of violence and criminal behavior by children and young people, namely by those who have already become conspicuous, have committed crimes, violated boundaries or injured their bodies,” says Steffen Theel from the Center for Criminology and police research. “But mostly these kids just fly out of our system.”

Teachers should – in relation to cyberbullying – educate students about privacy or about the disclosure of personal data and recordings.

“Many children and young people, teachers and parents are confronted with bullying and violence. Only a few teachers are prepared for this. It is therefore all the more important to give teachers the necessary tools to act preventively or to take action in the event of bullying or violence in their own classroom to take the right and necessary steps,” says Child Protection Councilor Michael Lindner (SP).

The Children and Youth Advocate of Upper Austria has set up its own bullying hotline: 0664/1521824, advice is available on: 0732 779777. Free information material can be downloaded here.

The tragic case of twelve-year-old Luise recently caused a stir in Freudenberg, Germany. She is said to have been killed by two girls of the same age. In this case, too, bullying is said to have played a role.

Source: Nachrichten

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