Most of us have read or watched television the news of a school assault on a minor under eight years of age in a school in Mallorca. A few days ago, we learned that the emergency report was not as serious as the family said and that the prosecution has filed the case and denied even that it was a case of bullying.
Obviously, what really happened only the girl and the companions know, but what we can be sure of is that Bullying (bad words, shoving, accusations, nicknames and accusations) in the classroom has existed for a long time and it has not been solved.
Some people think that the school aggressiveness of some students in the classrooms is the fault of the teachers. And there are those who think that this is solely the responsibility of the parents and the family. What is true is that while we continue to search for culprits, the bullying rate it is increasing more and more in Spain and nobody proposes any solution.
Obviously, you have to eliminate any type of aggressive behavior on the part of the students in the classes, but I am one of those who thinks that excessive punishments, yelling and bad words they are not going to contribute anything good in this type of situation. Before proposing some strategies to achieve classrooms away from pressure, violence and aggression, I would like to tell you about the factors that can influence children and young people to have aggressive behaviors with others and with their environment.
Possible Factors Influencing School Aggression
Environmental Factor
In this section we can talk about the behaviors that children and young people see in their role models (parents, older siblings and other families). If a child grows up in an aggressive environment where yelling, bad words, disrespect, no empathy, pushing and accusations reign, You will believe that these behaviors are the right ones and the right ones. Therefore, in educational centers you will imitate what you have seen at home.
We also have to talk about the educational style of the parents. If the parents have a hostile, excessively authoritarian, inflexible and unsympathetic attitude, the child will adopt a negative, self-centered and manipulative attitude towards life and towards his classmates, which may lead to situations of verbal or physical aggression. The same way, overprotective parents or indifferent who are not present in the education or in the day to day of their children could cause the same conflicts.
Social factor
Believe it or not, in some cultures violence and aggression are accepted. Anecdotally, a survey conducted in the United States in 1970 revealed that a high percentage of Americans approved of hurting each other and believed that wars were fully justified. If we think about it carefully, not so long ago from those years, right? Regarding the social conditions that can cause aggressiveness in students, we can talk about the following reasons:
- Excess of information and easy access to that documentation: all the information that we have at our disposal is not easy to assimilate or control. If it is complicated for adults, you can imagine how difficult it is for children and young people. Sometimes they feel incredibly pressured and burdened by the world around them and this can lead to excessive sensory and cognitive stimulation. In this way, it is difficult to maintain a proper emotional balance and can cause some children and young people not to know how to control it and to have aggressive behaviors and behaviors.
- Discouragement, demotivation and little emotion: There are many young people who are very aware of the reality in which we live: economic crisis, social crisis, educational crisis and thus fall into discouragement. Some of them have no hope or excitement that things are going to change and get better. They are pessimistic and negative attitudes that sometimes can lead to aggressive behaviors.
Genetic factor
Various studies and investigations have confirmed that biological inheritance affects the tendency towards aggressiveness independently in the social environment in which the individual develops. In this section we can talk about cases of twins (with the same genetic makeup) and adapted children (with different genetic makeup). Wilson, a famous American geneticist, states that aggressive behaviors are not determined by biology, but are conditioned by it.
Possible Strategies for Peaceful Classrooms
What can parents do?
- If there has been a case of assault in the classrooms, the first thing the family should do is emotionally support your child. Be present, listen to him, help him and make the child or young person feel protected and protected.
- Teach children and youth strategies to defend against an aggressor. We talk about possible victims not getting down to his level, ignoring him, expressing emotions to the aggressor and refusing to do the things the bully asks for (performing homework, letting him cheat on tests, telling him the answers when the teacher asks him …) And even run for help if necessary.
- Respond with violence towards the educational center or towards the aggressor it's going to do nothing more than make the situation worse. The family has to respond calmly and be calm. In this way, parents will teach their child to resolve conflicts peacefully. Let's not forget that this is what it is all about.
- Work side by side with the teachers, professors, management personnel and pedagogues of the center to make the best decision for the student / child.
What can schools do?
- For me the first of all would be educate for life and a suitable Education in values. Some educational centers do not give much importance to these concepts and believe that it is the task of parents and that it should be learned at home. But what is certain is that families and schools, as I said before, have to work together to prevent, avoid and act in any case of bullying or school aggression.
- Having a coexistence program and an action plan It is essential and should be mandatory for all schools (some do not have them and not all teachers know how to react correctly in situations of aggression and harassment). Also, the management of the center should offer extensive training to teachers on the subject to know how to act and the protocol to follow.
- Work with the aggressor student and his family. Develop appropriate strategies with the student's parents so that these aggressive behaviors and behaviors are not repeated either within the center or outside it.
- Bring relaxation techniques to the classroom. There are already quite a few educational centers (although few Spaniards) that have managed to yoga and mindfulness to the classrooms. But the results couldn't be more encouraging. When a tense environment is created between several students, they all go to a separate class to meditate and practice relaxation and breathing exercises.
- Project work, gamification and cooperative learning. In project work and cooperative learning, students need to work as a team so that the results and tasks are completed and the result is a success. In addition, these concepts help to gradually develop positive leadership skills. And with gamification and game-based learning, learners are more motivated, more relaxed, happier, and more content. In this way, aggressive behaviors are reduced.