Elena Panopoulou: Good morning! to begin with ,there should be constructed a trustworthy relationship between the teacher and the students in order to know every detail of the incident. We should know what kind of bullying has been exercised so we can assess it properly. For example, is it verbal? Physical? Moreover we should find out the people who are involved in the incident, whether they come from the school environment or even outside of it. Another issue that we have to assess is the dynamic relationship that has been performed between the bully and the victim. Becoming the bully who causes problems or gets into fights means that there are many problems that need to be addressed. Most of the times the bullies come from a disturbing family environment that need to exercise their power on someone who is less powerful and can feel mighty. At the same time a child who is bullied and does not confide the situation to anyone and just accepts it can also lead to disturbing conclusions for his home environment. Sometimes the kids who are victimized have low self esteem and no confidence to defend themselves. A bully usually picks on someone who resembles to his own self a psychological term we call mirroring! We tend to pick on somebody who we think is annoying because he or she carries similar traits we have and we are taught that they are not acceptable. When we recognize similar traits to another person we tend to find these characteristics annoying. The best way to approach any incident like that is to mediate. Mediation is a great way to communicate both parties and consult them while assessing the situation from different points of view. Furthermore, the mediator can address the situation by communicating the feelings of both parties, victim, bully and families. Moreover by consulting everyone involved the school environment would be made safer and healthier environment for the students to communicate any kind of problem. Usually when we use mediation all parties understand their acts and can reach to a mutual understanding. Teachers and advisors should always be in touch with their students and should be able to consult or even intervene when need be. Sometimes many serious incidents can
16 Publizr Home