How can cyberbullying be prevented?
Preventing cyberbullying is important to ensure the safety of digital users, particularly children and teenagers who use these platforms daily. It is crucial to remember that such behaviour is not usually isolated but often accompanies pre-existing bullying. Cyberbullying can be prevented through training sessions for teachers and pupils, the creation of action plans and active monitoring for warning signs.
Tackling cyberbullying in different countries
Finland, Italy and the Netherlands have succeeded in reducing the amount of bullying and cyberbullying in schools with the KiVa program. This educational project from the University of Turku (Finland) began in 2009 and since then has received, among others, the European Crime Prevention Award because of its results. According to the programme’s own estimates 98 % of victims of school bullying who took part in KiVaExternal link, opens in new window. felt that their situation had improved. The project has expanded to other countries such as Belgium, Estonia, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and the UK. In addition to preventing school bullying, KiVa provides tools for intervention by teachers, helps the victims to overcome the symptoms and helps bullies develop their ability to show their feelings in another way.
But KiVa is not alone. The problem of bullying has led to other programs that are fighting to eradicate it. One of them is ZERO. This Norwegian program has been successfully implemented in a number of countries in Latin America, including Chile, Peru and Mexico. It starts from the premise that bullying is aggression designed to bring social rewards, such as power, and focuses on reducing these and increasing the gratification produced by positive behaviour.
The role of the teacher is fundamental because they are responsible for teaching children how to live together and fostering a sense of community. In Switzerland, the Be-Prox programme was launched, which focuses on teaching values to promote positive social relationships amongst children. In Spain, the TEI programme is based on peer mentoring, with pupils from two higher year groups providing emotional support to their classmates. Also worth highlighting is the Irish ABC model, which includes the introduction of two compulsory subjects: Personal Health Education and Civic, Social and Political Education. And we must not forget to mention the pioneers: the Pikas programme, which seeks to reconcile the aggressor and the victim through a group meeting, and the Olweus programme, which aims to foster peer relationships. The European Union is also promoting the “Better Internet for Kids” initiative, which provides information, guidance and resources to improve the online experience for children and young people, aiming to create an increasingly safe space for everyone.
In recent years, various apps have been developed to improve communication between pupils, teachers, schools and families. Below we take a look at some of them. B-resol is an app for conducting digital mediation within schools. It enables the rapid detection of bullying cases within the school. There is also the “Stop Bullying” feature in Dinantia, an app that streamlines communication between families and schools. Through this feature users can report potential cases – either anonymously or by revealing their identity – and attach files, photographs and videos. Because digital tools are part of the problem… and part of the solution.
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