Mexico has top rate of bullying

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Young victims tell their moving tales of torment

BY LILLIAN REYES

The News

MEXICO CITY –The absence of policies to prevent violence and bullying in Mexico has resulted in low academic performance, attrition and an increase in suicides.

Mexico has the highest rate of bullying cases in the world, in both private and public elementary and middle schools, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

According to the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), the number of children affected by bullying has increased 10 percent in the past two years, to the extent that seven out of 10 students have been victims of violence.

Figures released by specialists from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) show that bullying is most common between the ages of seven and 14, with 16.5 percent of victims (one in six) committing suicide.

According to statistics from the Secretariat of Health (SSA), 59,562 people in the country die on an annual basis, 20,643 of which are murders; 14,343 traffic accidents; 4,972 suicides; 2,315 falls ; 1,842 drownings; 548 burns; 1,043 poisoning; and 13,856 from various unspecified causes.

In the cases of suicide, the causes included physical, psychological, and now cyber-bullying among students, and occurred mostly in the states of Mexico, Jalisco, Veracruz, Guanajuato, Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Puebla and Tabasco, as well as Mexico City.

One of the cases was the murder of a Tamaulipas high school student, which spurred a rise in awareness regarding the issue.

CARE AND COMBAT

According to Joshua Ruiz López, lecturer and researcher at the Aragón School of Higher Studies (FES), bullying is a phenomenon that involves teachers, students and parents.

“After collecting theoretical perspectives related to bullying, we realized that there is a lack of methodology in combating bullying within schools’ psychological, sociological and pedagogical framework,” Ruiz said. “We are researching ways for how to rectify this problem.”

During an interview, Ruiz said that bullying was caused by physical, economic, psychological and emotional factors.

He stressed that the School Violence Education and Advising Program, created by the Aragón Faculty for Higher Education at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (FES Aragón campus), is designed to reduce bullying in the classroom as well as to instruct those involved in developing cognitive, social, and emotional skills for later in life.

“We must educate our children in order to have a true impact, including teaching respect, coexistence and tolerance. It also means teaching children to think before acting and that there are ways to work things out without violence and impulsivity,” Ruiz said.

He added that this protocol is not exclusive to children and young people, but applies to parents as well.

DIFFERENT FROM THEM

Magdalena Uribe is 12. She is an elementary school student at a private bilingual school in the Linda Vista area of Mexico City. She has suffered from bullying for years.

“I did not know when things changed, but I was different from them,” Uribe said. “Friends who used to invite me to their houses for dinner or to go somewhere on the weekends suddenly started to ignore me. I was alone and no longer ‘Magdy’ but ‘Magialena.’ They gave me that nickname because they said that it was only by an act of magic (magia) that my parents could keep paying my tuition.”

She added, “There were days I did not want to go to school, and my grades started dropping. My parents were very concerned and asked me what was going on. They said that if I continued like this I would lose my scholarship, but I was afraid to tell them that I was being teased for being different; I didn’t think they would believe me.”

Believing that her parents would scold her for not going to school and possibly losing her scholarship, Uribe decided to confide in one of her teachers about what was happening, who then spoke to the group of students. The nightmare ended shortly after.

FEAR FOR THE VULNERABLE

Jorge Armando Ramírez is a 10-year-old student at the Emiliano Zapata Elementary School in Ecatepec, State of Mexico.

He is fairly short and wears glasses. He accepts that he is an easy target for bullying, but has never actually fallen victim to it thanks to his witty responses and resilient attitude.

“When someone starts calling me shorty or four eyes, I immediately reply with something that minimizes the comments like, ‘How clever of you to point out the obvious; that I’m a short and have two sets of eyes,’ and afterwards the whole situation becomes laughable,” he said.

Ramírez said that his strategy does not always work, but it usually prevents things from getting worse since he doesn’t get “hooked in.”

“If you show fear, you become a victim,” Ramírez said. “If you don’t show fear, they know that there will be consequences to face and that you will most likely tell your parents, so they decide to leave you alone and pick on the more fearful individuals. “

CYBERFAME

Kiara, who prefer to leave her last name anonymous, is finishing high school at a private school located in the north of Mexico City. She has also been a victim of bullying.

“Last year, I got transferred to another school because of photos and videos posted via Facebook depicting me as having a so-called ‘bad reputation,’” she said. “I felt cornered. Everyone in the school knew me, even kids in other grades. The alleged photos incurred a lot of disrespect from the opposite sex; I felt harassed.”

Kiara never told her parents about what happened, preferring to finish off the year and then requesting to be transfer to another school because she no longer liked the former one.

“I was lucky that they agreed,” she said. “Being an only child has its advantages.”

REVENGE

Elizabeth “N.” is 14 years old. She has been the victim of bullying, but prefers to keep silent out of fear. Her friends however have broken the silence by sharing her story.

“Eli is super cool,” said Mario “N.” “Last year, a new kid named Ángel came to our school. He was a real troublemaker and had already been expelled from two schools. H wanted Eli to be his girlfriend, and even though she had said no, he taunted her all year.”

Rosa María, another of her friends, adds: “He not only bothered her, but he tried to hurt her. Once, as revenge for saying no, he tried to snatch away her purse, leaving Eli on the floor covered in scratches.”

CURRENT INITIATIVES IN BRIEF

The Senate has been reviewing two initiatives to prevent bullying and has also proposed issuing a Law on Protection of Children and Adolescents.

Meanwhile, senators of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) are pushing for an initiative to identify, prevent, and eradicate school violence.

As a result, they proposed an addition to Article 39 of the Education Act that would empower the Secretariat of Education to promote actions to combat bullying.

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