To begin this article it is necessary to specify what we call “violence”, the exact definition so that it will then allow us to think about specific actions. The World Health Organization defines violence as “The deliberate use of physical force or power, whether threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which causes or is highly likely to cause harm.” cause injury, death, psychological harm, developmental disorders or deprivation. We can differentiate three types of violence:
- Interpersonal: It is violence exerted by a person or small group of people towards another person or group.
- Suicide or self-inflicted violence: It is exerted by oneself towards one’s own body, sometimes causing death.
- Collective: It is using violence as an instrument for a political, economic or social purpose.
In the case of this article we will focus on interpersonal violence in the school area, trying to find tools that can reduce physical and/or verbal aggression between classmates. We believe that it is necessary to take an active role in the face of this situation that is increasingly increasing and generating complications in navigating school age. We need to open debate and reflection to achieve effective and sustainable programs over time. As workers in the field of health and education, it is impossible for this not to be a concern; making the school a safe environment is essential.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2014) launched a guide for teachers to put an end to this problem where they invite them to work together with students, parents, educators and the community; also linking policies and legislation. From this article we totally agree with this position, violence in any of its forms can be prevented and all the agents involved must make decisions that affect improving the quality of the educational experience.
An interesting point to highlight is the importance of promotion in terms of human rights, coexistence guidelines, inclusion in the face of diversity, emotional education within school; and specific prevention of risk factors. In this last point, what we recommend is an objective record of the specific situations to be treated and a diagnosis of the specific situation to address it in the most convenient way.
To implement each strategy or technique that we see below, it is necessary to adapt them to the context and age where we want to apply them. Diaries and records of activities and their evolution are also recommended to evaluate the procedures and see their effectiveness over long periods of time. There are specific programs for this topic but there are still no representative studies to affirm their effectiveness. For this reason we must continue investigating.
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What can we do?
Emotional education
A child or adolescent who knows his or her emotions and how to act in response to them will undoubtedly generate significant learning to deal with various situations that generate stress or frustration. It is important to create a space for dialogue where children can tell what is happening to them and contemplate what responses they can develop in certain situations.
Formal education and intelligence results do not speak to the child’s emotional well-being; and it is in school where this well-being must be guaranteed; even detecting risk situations outside of it.
It is the lack of competence at this level that results in maladaptive responses and disruptive behaviors. Teaching skills about emotions prevents interrelational problems, improves empathy, contributes to problem solving in assertive conversations and increases the feeling of belonging to the group (Paz; 2014).
Cooperative learning
Create learning situations that are not competitive, that are designed so that one student achieves an objective, only if the other students also achieve it. These types of activities encourage cooperation between colleagues, mutual learning and the exchange of roles. It is important that teachers are aware of the weaknesses and strengths of each student to create heterogeneous groups and opportunities for success that positively reinforce interactions.
Cooperative work generates more productivity than individual work, generates higher intellectual reasoning, creates opportunities for interaction between students and gives group rewards that are usually better perceived than individual ones (López; 2009).
KIVA method
It is an anti-bullying program that involves different agents of the educational system: students, teachers, parents and non-teaching staff; that not only prevents but also intervenes and supervises harassment situations.
Although it is an intervention created specifically to attack bullying, we believe that it is a strategy that cannot be missing given that systematic bullying situations at school are a form of violence that needs to be reduced.
To learn more about this method you can visit its website or about its implementation in Argentina.
Awareness
It is very important that children from the beginning of school understand and know that all human beings are different and that these differences are rich in creating a community of respect among all. This point is fundamental in order to create spaces where diversity is a topic of learning and not discrimination.
Clear coexistence rules
Having established guidelines is a way to protect against school conflicts. Knowing the internal rules of the school establishment, what things can be done and what cannot be done, is essential for a good climate of coexistence. Rewarding compliance with these rules, instead of punishing non-compliance, can favor adherence to them in the long term.
Conclusions
Surely you can find some more tools or specific programs. The idea of the article is to open the concern and then internalize it in each of the ways. It is important that trying to reduce violence at school is a core decision of the organizational culture, not isolated actions out of context. Tolerance towards aggression and harassment in any of its forms should not have social acceptance or reinforcement of any kind.
Bibliographic references:
Chaves Baquero, YA, López León, FE, Rincón Vargas, SP, & Sánchez Triana, YF (2016). Strengthening three citizen competencies: Empathy, assertiveness and critical thinking to mitigate physical and verbal aggression (Master’s thesis, University of La Sabana).
Flores Paz, ME (2014). Application of a psychosocial skills program based on self-knowledge to strengthen the interpersonal relationships of third grade primary school boys and girls of the IEP Marvista, Paita, 2013.
López Alacid, MP (2009). Effects of cooperative learning on social skills, intercultural education and school violence: a bibliometric study from 1997 to 2007. University of Alicante.
Del Rey, R., Ruiz, RO, & Feria, I. (2009). School coexistence: strength of the educational community and protection against school conflict. Interuniversity journal of teacher training, (66), 159-180.