A quarter of young people in Groningen and Drenthe do not feel safe at school. This is evident from research by the Social Planning Bureau Groningen and Trendbureau Drenthe.
63 percent of young people believe that their own school is a place where students feel safe and treat each other with respect. However, 21 percent of young people are afraid of being bullied at school. Students in practical education and pre-vocational secondary education are more often afraid of being bullied.
For the study, 80 young people were interviewed at schools in both provinces and approximately 850 young people between the ages of 12 and 18 completed a questionnaire.
Discrimination
The study also looked at discrimination. This shows that many young people see and experience discrimination and bullying behavior. Only one in six students wants to make an official report. They often try to solve it themselves first before talking to anyone about it. “They indicate that they do not want to ‘snitch’ for fear that it will become bigger and worse,” according to the study. However, 61 percent of those surveyed do not know where discrimination can be reported.
The planning agencies recommend schools to create a safe school environment and to discuss bullying and discrimination. In addition, recommendations include ‘establishing a full-fledged reporting point, in coordination with the local anti-discrimination facility’, ensuring that there are more people to whom students can turn, making bullying and discrimination open to discussion in an accessible manner and ensuring greater awareness and visibility of anti-discrimination discrimination provisions.
