Bullying in a children's group: teachers’ orientations and opportunities

Abstract

We discuss the definition and phenomenology of direct and indirect bullying, describe the effects of bullying for all categories of participants. We discuss the most common teachers’ settings (normative, assertive, avoidant) in relation to bullying, and the ways to respond arising from these settings. We discuss mismatch in understanding the phenomenon of bullying between psychologists and educators, as well as the need to develop consistent definitions for the design of prevention programs and preventive procedures in situations of bullying in particular institution. We reveal the basic myths developed in society and aggravating bullying normalization, aggressor support and the victim's humiliation. We discuss the principles of organization of prevention system and school bullying prevention. The teachers’ possibilities to reduce the number of school bullying situations are considered. We show the necessity of a more critical and informed teachers' attitude toward bullying situations and their own response strategies.