In Romania, every second student is threatened, humiliated or physically attacked, and four out of five children witness bullying, according to data provided by Save the Children Romania. The organization draws attention to the fact that in reality this phenomenon is much more serious: bullying at school or in the classroom and its persistence in the online environment year after year emotionally affects hundreds of thousands of students who become victims of the situations. physical violence and threatening or degrading messages sent online.

According to official data provided by the organization, the number of reported bullying situations in Romanian schools in the 2021-2022 academic year increased by almost a third compared to the previous academic year – 10,971 detected bullying situations compared to 7,715.

“However, in reality, this phenomenon is much more serious: a recent analysis by Save the Children (end of 2022) shows that bullying at school or in the classroom and its persistence in the online environment emotionally affects hundreds of thousands of students who become victims of the situations every year of physical violence and threats or humiliating messages sent on the Internet (49%), help as witnesses (82%) or admit that they themselves have committed such actions (27%)”, Salvatsi Dita points out.

According to the organization, acts of bullying occur “against the lack of interest” of education authorities to develop a strategy and action plan for the prevention and counteraction of bullying and cyberbullying, based on current legal norms.

Thus, “an anti-bullying task force should be established in every school/high school”, which should include the principal of the educational institution, a school counselor teacher, three teachers who have received training on violence, including psychological violence-bullying . , two or more student representatives and parent representatives, the organization notes. The role of this group is to prevent, identify and resolve bullying situations between students through physical, verbal, relational and/or cyber actions.

• “In schools with an anti-bullying team, there is an improvement in the learning climate, which promotes better collaboration between teachers and parents, so students get the same message at school and at home.
• They feel supported to become more tolerant and approach adults with more confidence when they are faced with difficult situations,” Save the Children notes.

The organization asks the Ministry of Education to assess the stage of implementation of the Methodological norms regarding the creation of working groups to combat bullying and the development of a national strategy for compliance with the provisions of the law.

The Save the Children organization is sending an alarm signal in the context of the International Day of Nonviolence in Schools. The NGO cited “unacceptable acts of violence” such as an incident at Mioveni High School in which students physically attacked each other with fists and kicks and used pieces of wood taken from the school’s halls.

“For school boards to ignore the law that gives schools solutions to prevent bullying is effectively accepting that the physical and emotional safety of the students who depend on you will be at risk. This will affect the entire learning process, the relationship between students and teachers and the desire to come to school, and all students will pay the costs, now or later,” says Save the Children Romania Executive President Gabriela Alexandrescu.