The Public Security Police (PSP) has announced that over the next two weeks, “awareness actions” will be intensified through their School Safety Program Teams (EPES) focusing on the issues of ‘bullying’ and ‘cyberbullying’ within the school community.
The campaign aims to “highlight the negative impact that these behaviors have on the lives of victims, as well as the importance of identifying behaviors and signs that allow for the early detection of victims who are being targeted by these phenomena, thus promoting their protection and referral to the appropriate authorities.”
In the 2024/2025 school year, the PSP undertook 6,336 awareness actions on ‘bullying’ and ‘cyberbullying’ involving more than 131,200 students.
During this period, the EPES recorded 2,791 criminal occurrences, 130 of which were related to ‘bullying’ and 21 to ‘cyberbullying’, “representing a slight decrease compared to the 2023/2024 school year.”
“These 151 occurrences account for 5.4% of the total criminal occurrences recorded in the last school year.”
The PSP urges reporting of all known ‘bullying/cyberbullying’ situations and advises parents to monitor changes in behavior related to eating or sleeping, academic performance, disinterest in previously engaging activities, changes in friends, and any attempts or threats of suicide.
Parents should also watch for signs such as bruises, cuts, scratches, headaches, stomach aches, damaged or missing school materials, anxiety/depression, aggression/shyness, or isolation.
The PSP suggests that by not discriminating against or censuring victims, including them in group activities, and promoting their self-esteem, they can be helped.
The operation also aims to mark World Anti-Bullying Day, celebrated annually on October 20, reminding that the fight against this phenomenon is not limited to a single date or a specific group of people but is instead a daily and ongoing battle, whose responsibility rests with the entire community.
