Begoña Solaz: «Most bullied children find it difficult to tell»

Schools are much more than spaces for formal education; They are also places where young people learn to relate and socialize outside the home.

However, these interactions are not always smooth or problem-free, and unfortunately, bullying is a relatively frequent phenomenon in certain age groups. However, from psychology it is possible both to prevent these kinds of attacks and to help the victims in those cases in which they have already taken place. We will talk about this with the person we interviewed today, the psychologist Begoña Solaz.

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Interview with Begoña Solaz: understanding bullying

Begoña Solaz is a psychologist with a consultation in the city of Valencia, and she has more than two decades of professional experience giving psychotherapeutic support to people of all ages. She is also an expert in psychological expertise and intervention in the problem of bullying. In this interview he tells us precisely about this last phenomenon, and the way in which these attacks arise and influence minors.

Technically, what is bullying?

The bullying It is a psychological and / or physical abuse that a child receives, by another or other peers. It is not a specific conflict between two, it is an "all against one".

Abuse consists of harassing behaviors that range from insults and nicknames, to physical attacks, through intimidation, threats, exclusion and social blockade.

Technically, three requirements have to be given to be considered bullying: that there is one or more bullying behaviors, the repetition of these behaviors and the duration of the bullying

What are the variables that make bullying situations more likely to occur in a class?

On the one hand, that the educational center does not have a good prevention and detection strategy. The lack of visibility on the part of the educational center and the firm will to address cases of bullying together with the shortage of teacher training on what it is and what it consists of. bullying. A class without clear and precise rules, agreed between the students and tolerance for behaviors of psychological and / or physical violence will only promote this type of behavior.

Is it necessary for victims of bullying to have professional psychological assistance?

Bullying can generate: somatizations, decreased self-esteem, anxiety, dysthymia, flashbacks, post-traumatic stress, as well as ideation and autolytic behaviors. Therefore, psychological assistance by professionals is essential.

In recent decades, has the way in which psychology and the educational world approach the problem of bullying has changed much?

From the field of psychology there is a greater understanding of bullying processes, what they consist of and the psychological damage it can cause. Also, regarding the evaluation of bullying, we have standardized instruments that allow us to rigorously evaluate cases of bullying.

From the educational environment it seems that little has changed the approach to cases of bullying, the “look towards other side ”, seems to be the most frequent response to requests from families to identify and Act.

What are the aspects that complicate the intervention in these situations? For example, it is likely that many child victims of bullying do not say so in order not to be seen as "whistleblowers".

The vast majority of bullied children find it difficult to tell what happens to them, sometimes out of shame or not worry their parents, others for fear of reprisals either from teachers or their own stalkers.

The fact that they can qualify as a "snitch" is something that blocks them from being able to tell the teachers what happens to them. Also the low motivation to do it, since sometimes when they try to tell it they are not heard, believed or taken into account.

To prevent this type of problem, is it useful to intervene not only in those who have a predisposition to bully, but in the social context that surrounds them? For example, in their classmates, in families, etc.

The prevention of school bullying goes through a global approach, working with all those who are part of the bullying: educational center, teachers, families, bullies, observers and bullied children.

Working only with the last link, which are the bullied, is working only with the consequences of bullying, we skip links: prevention, detection and action by all the elements that are part of harassment school.