“Just getting to school the they called india, sudaca…Then they started to push her aside, they didn’t want to sit with her in class. And now they already insult her while they hit her with an umbrella, with chairs or push her“, Explain Edith Brave, mother of a 14-year-old girl who is a victim of ‘bullying’. “She cries a lot and says he doesn’t want to go to school. The institute minimizes it, wants to cover it up, He says that they are children’s things“adds Bravo, a Peruvian woman who came to Barcelona in May 2022 fleeing violence in Peru and looking for a better life.
This mother is not aware that the school has activated the bullying protocol‘. The specialized unit of the Department of Education in supporting students who are victims of violence, the usav -who is now investigating what happened at the institute where the Sallent twins studied- has attended 167 cases during the first quarter of this course 22-23. Some figures that are only the tip of the iceberg according to the entities, which calculate that one in three schoolchildren suffers abuse in childhood. “The problem continues to be relativized,” complains the No To Bullying (NACE) platform.
children of parents immigrants, LGTBI or with disabilities They are often the target of bullies. The case of Bravo demonstrates it. “They mess with her because she is different from her, but I am lucky because my daughter has explained it to me,” continues this mother. She is in irregular situationhas serious problems making ends meet and does not want to report her daughter’s case to the police for fear of being expelled from the country.
“It is not an isolated case, all the migrant women I know have or have had problems with their children; they do violence to them for the mere fact of not conforming to European physical features. Neither the school, nor the teachers, nor the institution is prepared to do something real in the face of these cases”, admits Rocio Echeverriaactivist for the rights of domestic workers.
Relativizing the problem
“The cases of Sallent and Sant Carles de la Ràpita do not surprise us… it is what we have seen in the association for years. LWhat is worrisome is that the problem continues to be relativized. The institutions, the centers… are still unaware that it is a very serious abuse of children that we should not tolerate,” he complains. Carmen Cabestanypresident of the association BORN.
The last report on ‘bullying’ in Spain is from 2006, Prepared by the Cisneros Foundation. He considered that 25% of schoolchildren are victims of bullying. Although Cabestany raises the figure to 30%. “We need transparency, data, statistics… not having them only benefits those who want to cover it up“, warns. The USAV has dealt with 598 cases since it was created, in the academic year 20-21.
NACE insists that teachers and schools are not prepared to address these issues. And he points out that one of the keys is networking. “When a case reaches the prosecutor’s office but the minor cannot be sentenced because he is not criminally responsible, the school should be informed. Or the hospitals when they have suicide attempts. The pediatricians they could detect much more because children somatize, some directors relativize it or try to cover it up… we are like islands each thinking what we can do to preserve those creatures but the end result is that are thrown into the void. They don’t see a solution. And the parents don’t know how to manage it, what to do,” summarizes Cabestany.
When diversity is a problem
“He 60% of LGTBI people suffer or have suffered bullying at school“, points Encarni Bonillapresenter of the Crisallyis Association, families and trans minors in Spain. “What is clear is that not accompanying our youth, who they place obstacles, that their identity is not recognized and they do not want to accept it, it does not allow transit to be carried out in a peaceful and normalized way, which affects its development,” he explains. pretty.
He believes that the most vulnerable trans children to ‘bullying’ are those who parents do not accept their identity and that they transition in adolescence, instead of at earlier ages. “Deep down this Shows we have a diversity problem: schools do not have to adapt when there is a case, they have to think that there are cases constantly. Only then will they be safe and diverse spaces,” insists Bonilla.
The case of the Sallent twins and that of the child from Sant Carles de la Ràpita has removed Bravo. “She could be my daughter,” he sobs. She is not the only one. “Among the union of mothers in functional diversity there is no family that has not gone through this,” he explains Maria Herrero, member of the collective and mother of a 13-year-old boy with an autism spectrum disorder, bonding and conduct disorder, with 75% disability, born in Morocco. “My son only went to regular school for three years, until he was 5. I took him out when he started asking me if he was stupid, because that was what the children told him in class,” she recalls.
drama with autism
Between 46% and 82% of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience bullying, reports Beatriz Perez. “And there is more ‘bullying’ when the person with ASD does not have an intellectual disability,” he says Marian Garcia Rieratechnical director of the Junts Autisme Foundation. Men with this disorder (which affects one in 81 people) are up to seven times more likely to die by suicide in adulthood and women up to 13 times more. “And this has a lot to do with what they have suffered in their educational stage,” Garcia certifies.
The entities warn that Pol’s suicide attempt shows that a “deep review” of education is needed. “Schools must have the support of the Administration so that it gives them information,” he defends martha fieldmanaging director of the Catalan Federation of Autism. According to Campo, both the suicide of Sallent’s twin last week and the attempt of the minor from La Ràpita show the lack of “awareness” about social “diversity”. “What’s going on in the classes and in the institutes?” she asks herself.
run away to special school
The problem with the mothers of children with disabilities adds, in addition, the lack of means to deploy the inclusive school model. “There are many families who prefer to go to special education schools, where the ratio is much lower. Many arrive crushed, touched… the environment has treated them with contempt, with very low self-esteem,” Guerrero insists. “The lack of means and teachers, especially for children with disabilities, doesn’t help,” Guerrero complains.
“Everyone is susceptible to bullying, but it is clear that the groups that are most at risk are the most vulnerable, those who do not follow the norm,” says Cabestany. “Deep down, it’s a mirror of our society No? Children are sponges and reproduce what they see in society. Racism, ableism, LGBTBphobia reproduces. And this should make us reflect on the society that we are,” reflects Guerrero.
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The school where Bonilla’s son attends shows how things could be reconverted. “Emotional issues have always been worked on at the center, and after my son’s passing they became very involved. They hold daily assemblies,” he explains. The boy has not suffered bullying in the classroom, but a student from the center did insult him on the street. “The children discussed the issue in the assembly and it has never been repeated again,” he says.
Bravo, on the other hand, for months he has been asking for a school change. “They assigned me this concerted center when I arrived, but my daughter can’t take it anymore,” she continues. The defeat of ‘bullying’ cases is, in part, when the victims have to escape from the center while their aggressors do not receive a reprimand. “The only thing I want is for my daughter to be well. In fact, I am considering leaving Barcelona to start a life from scratch in some small town,” says Bravo, hopeful.