Bullying in schools has been a problem for as long as schools have existed. But most have not figured out how to deal with it, sometimes punishing or expelling the aggressors or quietly letting the victims slip away to another institution.
A 2015 study in Mexican private and public schools found that 42 percent of students had been a victim of bullying in one form or another. Most of the aggressive behavior occurs in grades one through nine, and tends to taper out in high school.
One non-profit organization in Guadalajara, founded in 2012, is achieving success by putting in place a program that tries stop bullying before it starts in grades one to six.
Homo Novus Educacion takes its cue from a variety of successful anti-bullying programs implemented around the world.
Their multidimensional program, called WATCH, is based on one used in thousands of U.S. public schools, that also borrows concepts from programs in Ireland, Norway, Finland and Sweden.
The strategy begins with psychologists giving four-hour conferences to teachers, who in turn invite the parents of their students to a similar get-together.
The program stresses on both teachers and parents the importance of creating positive role models for the children, and the need to keep them from both bullying and being bullied at home and in school by placing limits and rules, and enforcing them.
WATCH also gets children involved by creating what they call no-bullying brigades.
The approach taken recently at the Escuela Francisco Larroyo, a small private school in Colonia Bosques de la Victoria, consisted of holding a raffle once a month in each classroom to choose five students to be active in the no-bullying brigade or vigilance committee.
Being chosen a brigadista is looked upon by students as a prize and they are given an armband to identify them as part of the no-bullying brigade. But one of the rules is that if the children don’t report bullying then they will receive the same punishment as the aggressor.
Students with aggressive tendencies are also chosen to be in the brigade, in an effort to change their behavior.
During recess “socialization,” tables are set up with games and activities to allow students to interact with one another. If a brigadista sees someone who is alone or who seems to show a signal of abuse (anguish, calls for attention, facial expressions of anxiety) or of someone acting out aggressively, they invite them to their table. If they see problems arising between students, they go to one of the three teacher guides, identified by special vests, who are monitoring the recess period.
WATCH emphasizes that recess is no longer a time for students to do nothing and teachers to take a break, but an active class in which the children are learning to interact socially and the teachers are taking stock of their actions and interactions.
Students are also given information about the signs and effects of bullying in obligatory classes of ethics and moral values.
If bullying is found to have occurred, both the aggressor and the victim, as well as their parents, attend regularly scheduled meetings over three months, along with their teachers, supervisors and psychologists from Homo Novus.
So far, Homo Novus has given conferences to some 200 schools and more than 10,000 parents and teachers in the Guadalajara metropolitan area. They interact with both the state and federal human rights commissions and certify schools for their no-bullying policies and compliance.
For more information, contact Homo Novus Educacion Director Luis Saracho Alatorre at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">.