Guidelines

Headteachers should understand the key concepts of bullying, so that they can discriminate it from other behavioral problems before taking any decision of action to contrast it. Bullying is a problem of psycho-social nature in which the responsibility is shared among different actors. In this respect, it is important to act early and divide responsibilities for action. Otherwise, with a problem of bullying among the pupils, it is more complicated to deal with such tasks, as guilt feelings could emerge among people. Traditionally, bullying has been analyzed as direct and indirect, but always face to face. However, over the last few years, a new form of bullying has appeared due to the use of the ICT and virtual social networks, which must also be taken into account. Accordingly, before acting against bullying, headteachers should understand: the characteristics of the phenomenon, the roles that are implied, the rules that facilitate and sustain it, and the direct and indirect forms that it may adopt.