1 in 3 school children in Greece fall victim to bullying

One in three school children fall victim of bullying in schools, a survey in Greece has found. And this while the phenomenon of bullying is increasing worldwide.

The phenomenon of violence in schools and bullying is getting bigger and bigger, the annual statistics of NGO “The Smile of the Child” and specifically of the Center for Violence and Bullying that operates within the organization.

A related research carried out by the NGO in the school year 2022-2023 has shown that 1 in 3 children (32.4%), in all geographical regions and school levels throughout Greece, is bullied.

At the same time, 1 in 6 children stated that they feel their school does not teach them not to bully their classmates.

In a conference of the Hellenic Red Cross on school bullying, it was mentioned that 17 violent juvenile gangs were dismantled last year.

A dysfunctional family, communication problems with parents or the absence of boundaries are often behind the perpetrator of school bullying, Lazaros Grigoriadis., officer at the Juvenile Protection Sub-Directorate, of the Juvenile Delinquency Department of the Thessaloniki Police Department underlined.

At the same time, juvenile delinquency in our country seems to be getting out of hand: more than 10,700 incidents involved the Police in 2023 – far more than in 2022.

However, the phenomenon is very complex and the new program against bullying being currently under preparation by the Education Ministry punishes children with suspension and change of school and parents with financial fines, instead of education programs against the phenomenon. At the same time, the program has no provision for teachers and other education personnel, excluding them of any responsibility.

In the city of Volos the parents of a 12-year-old student filed a complaint to the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office saying that their child is being victim of permanent bullying, while the school management did not respond to the child’s pleas for protection.