As stated in the State Study on School Coexistence in Primary Education Centers of 2023, 9.5% of Primary Education students have suffered bullying and 9.2%, cyberbullying. According to statistical data from police units in Spain, the largest number of victims of this problem is between 8 and 13 years of age.
The Mutua Madrileña Foundation, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, has launched an impressive awareness campaign, together with the National Police, aimed at families of minors who suffer, cause or witness situations of bullying. With the slogan Bullying can touch anyone. Talk to your children, they wanted to remind you that raising awareness against school bullying can and should start at home.
Mutual Foundation and National Police against bullying.
With this union, presented by the general director of the Police, Francisco Pardo Piqueras, and the president of Grupo Mutua and its Foundation, Ignacio Garralda, they ask adults to act against bullying, whether they are relatives of the bully, the victim or witnesses.
As part of the campaign, they have created and broadcast on their channels three pieces that show the reality of bullying to mobilize adults to take the initiative and put an end to the type of scenes that are shown without filters in the videos. In one of them, the perspective changes and is transferred to the world of adults to reflect what our day-to-day life would be like if this type of attitude was allowed.
From the Mutua Madrileña Foundation we recognize that it is difficult for families to be prepared to face such a painful issue, which, furthermore, can now extend beyond the classroom with cyberbullying. For this reason, with this production they want to draw attention to the importance of mothers and fathers being aware that they are part of the problem, but also of the solution.
“That your son is harassed, it is a nightmare. That your son is a bully, too”, they have revealed in one of their videos in which they show how, sometimes, parents know about their children’s situation and do not know what to do to stop it. “Talk to your son,” she reiterates.
The consequences of bullying
The ANAR Foundation has carried out a survey, in collaboration with the Mutua Madrileña Foundation, among the students who are part of the bullying prevention program and have determined that it takes an average of 13 months for a child or adolescent to ask for help after suffering aggression in the school.
36% hide it from their parents and 90% develop psychological problems such as anxiety, depression or permanent fear, according to the report. With this in mind, the Mutua Madrileña Foundation has also launched a program together with the Community of Madrid called “Harassment between equals”.
The initiative aims to alleviate the effects that bullying has on mental health, providing financial support so that child victims have access to personalized psychological care. Families will also be able to decide whether to receive this aid, since the
Commitment to awareness and prevention
At the event that took place to present the campaign, Ignacio Garralda pointed out that Fundación Mutua Madrileña’s commitment to the fight against bullying “began in 2015 and, little by little, we have managed to make things change, giving more visibility to the problem and contributing to change behaviors and sensitivities about this scourge, although we have to continue working because we still have a lot to do.”
The Mutua Madrileña Foundation develops initiatives against bullying from various perspectives. Together with the ANAR Foundation, they annually prepare sociological studies on this problem and work in more than 200 schools each year giving talks on sensitivity and prevention.
And now, together with the Madrid College of Psychology, they will also focus on the mental health of boys and girls who are victims of bullying with a program that facilitates their access to a psychologist. Lastly, for eight years they have made an effort to create impact campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of witness performance through their social networks and those of their collaborators.
Fundación Mutua Madrileña and National Police campaign against bullying.
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