Amnesty International warns of unseen bullying in Spanish schools with several cases not followed up

Bullying in Spanish schools is not seen but is affecting thousands of children and their families every year, according to a human rights NGO.

Amnesty International said in its new report on the issue that several cases of bullying reported to the Ministry of Education had not been followed up.

Esteban Beltran, Amnesty International’s director in Spain, said measures to detect bullying were not working meaning the issue is not being tackled properly.

“We are only seeing the tip of the iceberg because thousands of cases are not officially registered, either due to data collection errors or by a lack of training for teachers and families to spot the signs of bullying,” Beltran said.

The director added bullying was a human rights issue and results in lower self-esteem as well as health and education problems for victims.

“They have a right to grow up happy and without fear,” Beltran said.

There were 25,366 reports of bullying made to the ministry on its helpline in 2017, the first year of its operation.

Almost 7,510 of them were identified as possible cases of bullying but only 278 cases, 3.7 per cent of the total, were referred to the Educational Inspectorate.