CIEC Researcher creates Anty-Bullying Association
The Anti-Bullying Association with Children and Young People ("Associação Anti-Bullying com Crianças e Jovens" - AABCJ) was created on 12/08/2015, by Paulo Costa's initiative, teacher of primary education and also CIEC PhD Student. The Association main goal is to make the general population aware of bullying and its harmful effects, as well as disseminate proactive behaviours among children and young people by promoting bullying preventive activities and and offer specialised tracking to bullying victims.
Statistics reveal that bullying problematic can affect more than 200 thousand Portuguese students, one in each five children and young people. The situation in Portugal is even worse than in the EU average, according to an UNICEF report. Due to the severity of these numbers and the impact that it can cause in children lives lastingly, the studies that are being carried out are not only necessary, but require a mandatory intervention among the newer generations. This was translated into a high number of different research outputs, from theoretical studies to computer games, in order to fight against the problem.
D. Jorge Ortiga
Paulo's choice was to involve as many actors as possible, especially the children and young people themselves. Having started with a few sponsorships at the beginning of his work, the subsequent results of the research implementation showed to deserve the support of the Braga Municipality, the Portuguese Institute for Sport and Youth, of NEXUS and the Vox Populi Foundation. More recently, a large spectrum of social agents has been also engaged in this process, such as the Braga Archbishop and local school authorities.
The new social networks have revealed to be a strategic asset of the Association, like its blog and the impressive Facebook community page with 13000 “followers”. Moreover, the Association also caught the attention of the conventional media, so that news have been broadcasted in three television channels, six newspapers, three radio stations and more than a dozen of on-line publications.
Although Paulo's research is mainly quantitative, he implemented his work in an action-research approach, as he quotes, “it’s important to encourage the 70% of children which do not have an active role in the bullying process to denounce the possible cases”. This can only be reached with a close contact with students in schools, so that the Association is struggling with a busy agenda in 2016: visits and debates, seminars and expositions, and even the production of a theatre play. These are tools planned to spread and make people aware of the bullying concept.
Nowadays, these activities are possible thanks to the support of the almost 200 associated members that “signed up” right in the first four months, a precious assistance to the Association, when further partnerships to reach financial sustainability are now being developed.
The CIEC researcher was first touched by the bullying problem when he had to deal with a specific case among his students. Then he decided to seek for deeper knowledge and decided to devote his PhD to the bullying subject. During his research process, a fact in the school he was teaching was decisive to the AABJC creation: an extreme bullying case happened with a student that committed suicide most probable due to continued bullying abuses. Paulo became emotionally and personally engaged as a devoted activist to fight against bullying since then.
Presently, Paulo Costa is finishing his PhD thesis under the supervision of Professor Beatriz Pereira, who has been developing bullying studies in CIEC*. Paulo has already plans to post-doctoral studies about bullying among adults.
* Some research products:
Melim, F. M., & Pereira, B. (2015). A influência da Educação Física no bullying escolar: A solução ou parte do problema. Revista Ibero-americana de Educação, Vol. 67, nº 1 , pp. 65-84. (ISSN: 1022-6508; )
Costa, P., Farenzena, R., Simões, H. e Pereira, B. (2013). Adolescentes portugueses e o bullying escolar: estereótipos e diferenças de género. Revista Interacções, número especial - adolescência, género e violências , Vol. 9, nº 25 , pp. 180-201.
Silva, M., Pereira, B., Mendonça, D., Nunes, B., Oliveira, W. (2013). The involvement of girls and boys with bullying: an analysis of gender differences. International Journal of Environmental Research and public Health, Vol. 10, nº 12 , pp. 6820-6831. (DOI: 10.3390/ijerph10126820;)
Pereira, B., Costa, P., Melim, F., & Farenzena, R. (2011). Bullying escolar: Programas de Intervenção Preventiva. In: M. L. Gisi & R. T. Ens (Eds.), Bullying nas Escolas: Estratégias de Intervenção e Formação de Professores. Curitiba, Brasil: Editora Unijuí da Universidade Regional do Noroeste do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. pp. 135-155.
Some news about it in CIEC Blog:
Investigador do CIEC comenta nos media o caso de Bullying no Seixal
Pandemia trava bullying nas escolas, mas PSP ainda registou 115 casos
“Bullying não é modernismo, é um fenómeno grave”
Associação Anti-Bullying completa 1 ano de atividades
Associação AntiBullying na Rúbrica “Portugal Solidário”
O bullying “é uma coisa para ser resolvida entre as crianças”
Investigador do CIEC cria “Associação Anti-bullying”
Investigador do CIEC em destaque nos media
Investigador do CIEC no Porto Canal
Investigador do CIEC fala de bullying e homofobia entre jovens na TVi24
Bullying em debate com investigadora do CIEC no “Jornal Diário” do “Porto Canal”
“Update” do artigo dos investigadores do CIEC sobre “Bullying Homofóbico” nos media
