After more than eight years of struggle, the Ogpab, together with national deputies, managed to appear before the National Assembly to demand change for future generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bullying has reached alarming levels in Panama, affecting the daily lives of numerous students. V\u00edctor Alejandro Smoly, executive director of the Global Organization for the Prevention of Bullying (Ogpab), spoke with La Estrella de Panam\u00e1 about the figures surrounding this behavior in the approximately 3,500 public schools and 800 private schools in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Between March and October 2023, the organization conducted surveys in educational centers and discovered that in each school there are at least two children on the verge of suicide. \u201cThere were schools where we detected up to 18 cases of children who have had suicidal thoughts as a result of the bullying they experience on a daily basis,\u201d warned Smoly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking the minimum figure as a reference, the director of the Ogpab emphasized that this represents the possibility of having around \u201c8,600 minors on the verge of suicide in Panama today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that approximately seven out of ten students have reported being victims of bullying. \u201cIn public schools, 75% of reported cases involve verbal bullying. With regard to cyberbullying, about 29% of young people report having experienced harassment on social media.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for private schools, Smoly pointed out that many of these institutions \u201care worse than some public schools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anti-bullying bill<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The director of OGPAB explained to the newspaper that the current bill against bullying has been presented on several occasions since 2016, \u201cwith different political parties and without success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was together with Congressman Ariel Vallarino that he managed to present a bill to the National Assembly that was tailored to the current situation in the country. \u201cWhat we want to achieve is for it to become law and to quickly begin to protect the lives of hundreds of Panamanian and foreign children who suffer indiscriminate school violence in their educational centers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill has 36 articles, of which Smoly highlighted \u201cinvolving families and community leaders, teachers, and the students themselves to eradicate bullying in schools\u201d and \u201cpunishing educational institutions and teachers who allow or engage in any type of bullying or abuse within their facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
En cuanto a las acciones necesarias para garantizar el debido manejo de dicho proyecto de ley contra el bullying y acoso escolar, Smoly inform\u00f3 que este sostuvo su primer debate el pasado 31 de octubre y dicha respuesta ser\u00e1 resuelta en la segunda instancia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overcoming<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 2022, Ogpab has been working to combat bullying and child suicide. Since then, they have reached 62,147 students, trained 9,118 parents, as well as 8,023 educators and 115 ambassadors around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smoly shared two \u201cshocking\u201d cases: the first involved a five-year-old girl who \u201cattempted suicide due to daily abuse from her preschool teacher.\u201d Since the educational institution denied the facts, the organization offered legal and psychological assistance to the minor and her parents. \u201cThe abusive teacher no longer works in any educational center, and the principal resigned last year,\u201d said the director of Ogpab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second case occurred in 2022, when a 10-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Texas \u201csuffered abuse and violence at a Catholic school; the teachers and administrators, aware of the situation, did not take measures to protect him due to his migrant status,\u201d Smoly said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter his mother filed a complaint on our website, our NGO intervened quickly, presenting evidence to the authorities, which resulted in an academic restructuring: several teachers resigned and others were criminally punished. In addition, other parents joined the cause, and today the school conducts community activities to prevent bullying and promote inclusion,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is important that teachers are the ones creating safe school environments,\u201c said Smoly. \u201dIt is their responsibility to maintain the integrity of their students. Let’s remember that if bullying occurs within the school, the responsibility lies with the school, its administrators, and teachers, never with the children.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for the home, \u201cbullying, in some cases, begins there, and it is the parents’ responsibility to reinforce values and be emotionally present and active,\u201d he said. “Today we have a generation of children who are orphans of living parents, and this is supported by our statistics, in which only 12% of children say they are happy at home. To put it more clearly, out of 100 children, only 12 are happy with their parents.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bullying or harassment<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Smoly, \u201cthe most common forms of bullying we have observed tend to be verbal harassment, such as insults, teasing, and degrading nicknames, and social or relational harassment, which includes excluding victims from social groups and spreading rumors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among its consequences, he cited low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression, \u201cwhich can limit young people’s personal and academic development,\u201d he explained. \u201cBullying creates emotionally weak adults,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The director of the organization offered some advice to readers: \u201cYou are not alone; you have our legal, psychological, emotional, and professional support. Report it, denounce it, and don’t be afraid to speak up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regarding the measures necessary to achieve a safe environment, the professional communicated the importance of \u201cpracticing values, being an example to others, putting yourself in other people’s shoes, thinking before you speak or offend someone, and being a helping hand, not an aggressor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Victor Alejandro Smoly<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Director of OGPAB<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You are not alone; you have our legal, psychological, emotional, and professional support. Report, denounce, and don’t be afraid to speak up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/www.laestrella.com.pa\/vida-y-cultura\/se-prohija-el-proyecto-de-ley-contra-el-bullying-ante-las-cifras-elevadas-de-suicidios-en-edad-temprana-BE9204542<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After more than eight years of struggle, the Ogpab, together with national deputies, managed to appear before the National Assembly to demand change for future generations. Bullying has reached alarming levels in Panama, affecting the daily lives of numerous students. V\u00edctor Alejandro Smoly, executive director of the Global Organization for the Prevention of Bullying (Ogpab),… Anti-Bullying Bill<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1426,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogpab.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogpab.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogpab.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogpab.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogpab.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1434"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ogpab.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1694,"href":"https:\/\/ogpab.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434\/revisions\/1694"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogpab.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogpab.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogpab.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogpab.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}