Pamplona (EFE).- 48.4% of Navarrese students have suffered in the last year one or more face-to-face or ‘face-to-face’ bullying, whether physical, verbal, social or psychological, and 63.7% say they have observed one or more behaviors of this type, while 35.2% report having suffered one or more cyberbullying behaviors.
These are data collected by the largest study carried out to date in Navarra on face-to-face and technological bullying (bullying and cyberbullying), with a voluntary and anonymous sample of 15,544 students from Primary, ESO, Baccalaureate and Basic and Intermediate Vocational Training, carried out by Professor of Psychological Assessment and Diagnosis at the University of the Basque Country (UPV) Maite Garaigordobil.
Among the most relevant conclusions is the verification that in the last year 48.4% of Navarrese students have suffered one or more face-to-face or face-to-face bullying, whether physical, verbal, social or psychological, and 35.2 % refers to having suffered one or more cyberbullying behaviors in the last year.
Most students have observed bullying
63.7% of the students participating in the sample declared having observed one or more bullying behaviors in person or face to face, whether physical, verbal, social or psychological, and 29.8% of these observant students said they had supported the victim before such facts.
At the same time, 31.6% of the students surveyed acknowledge having carried out one or more face-to-face bullying behaviors in the last year and 12% state that they have carried out one or more cyberbullying behaviors in the same period.
23.4% of the students participating in the study have needed psychological assistance due to symptoms of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, family problems, academic performance, use and abuse of technology, alcohol or drugs, and bullying.
The most prevalent cyberbullying behaviors that victims have suffered have been receiving offensive and insulting messages through mobile phones or the Internet, anonymous calls to scare and provoke fear, being the object of defamation or rumors through the network to discredit them, blackmail or threats through mobile phones or the Internet, identity theft.
Psychological and psychopathological consequences
Sexual harassment, dissemination of compromised photos or videos, isolation of their contacts on social networks, tricking their photos or videos and spreading them to humiliate or laugh at them, among others, are also behind these cyberbullying behaviors.
When they have suffered these behaviors, most of the victims and cybervictims have not told anyone (18.5%). Some have told their parents (16.9%) or friends (11.6%). Finally, a smaller percentage has shared it with teachers (5.6%) and brothers and sisters (5.3%).
In relation to the effects of victimization-cybervictimization, a percentage close to 10% say they have experienced negative effects and serious psychological and psychopathological consequences for having been victims of these behaviors.
Of them, 5.3% express that it has caused relevant consequences and that they feel worse, more insecure, sad, not wanting to go to school, with problems making friends and with more physical problems. In 1.8% of the cases they have preferably needed psychological help due to depression and anxiety. In the extreme, some victims have suffered very serious effects, since 216 students admit to having had suicidal ideation (1.14%) and 121 of the participating students have made suicide attempts (0.8%).
Most of the victims are girls.
While the victims say they have felt worry, nervousness, desire for revenge or fear-fear, as well as shame, impotence, helplessness and resentment, among the aggressors a percentage of 7% stands out who admits having felt guilty afterwards.
On the contrary, 3.6% do not feel anything about the situation of the victim and even 3.6% speak of hatred or resentment towards them, joy for having harassed them (2.4%) pleasure for revenge (2, 2%) and feelings of well-being because they like to see the victim suffer (0.7%).
In relation to the reasons given by the aggressors-cyberaggressors to harass, the highest percentage say that the victims “deserve it”, with which they make an external attribution of their aggressive behavior, attributing to the victim the responsibility for their own behaviors ( 4.2%).
Among the most prevalent reasons for attacks, racism stands out (2.5%), thinking differently from the aggressor (2%), avoiding being a victim (1.7%), homophobia (1.6%), in addition to attribution of qualities of “weakness” or “clumsiness” towards the victim.
Other results of the study are the increase in the percentage of victims of face-to-face bullying from 5th grade to 2nd grade of ESO, with a subsequent decrease as the school year increases, as well as the fact that the highest percentage of victims and cybervictims are girls while the highest percentage of aggressors and cyberaggressors are boys.