Italian
Over 25% of high school students have experienced violence: structured strategies, multidisciplinary teams, and ongoing teacher training are needed
ITALY – The National Coordination of Teachers of Human Rights expresses deep concern over data released by the Foresta Foundation, which shows that more than one in four high school students in Italy have experienced bullying or cyberbullying. Particularly striking is the higher vulnerability among girls (36.4%) compared to boys (25.2%), and the predominance of males among perpetrators (17.8% versus 7.9%). These numbers reveal widespread suffering and an urgent need to renew educational policies.
School, more than just a place of instruction, must become a laboratory of relational health and ethical citizenship, capable of preventing violent phenomena through listening, understanding, and building meaningful relationships. Bullying, as scientific evidence shows, often stems from deep distress that finds in the digital world an emotional and behavioral amplifier. For this reason, schools need to adopt structured prevention strategies integrated into a national system of continuous monitoring.
The CNDDU (National Coordination of Teachers of Human Rights) calls on Minister Giuseppe Valditara to promote a National Plan for the Prevention of Bullying and Youth Discomfort based on a scientific, systemic, and innovative vision. Isolated projects or awareness campaigns are no longer enough: an educational policy based on empirical research and impact evaluation is needed, capable of transforming good local practices into models replicable at the national level. The Coordination hopes the Minister supports the creation of school research networks, coordinated by universities and pedagogical research centers, to collect data on at-risk behaviors and experiment with validated educational methods.
It is also essential to strengthen the presence of multidisciplinary teams within schools — psychologists, pedagogues, digital mediators, and trainers — who can collaborate with teachers and families in the timely management of cases. The goal is not to punish, but to understand and transform: every bullying episode is a signal to interpret, not just an act to sanction.
Teacher training must become ongoing and focused on developing relational and emotional skills. Education on human rights and empathy must be recognized as a core pillar of learning, not as an accessory activity. Moreover, schools need digital tools to monitor school well-being, capable of early detecting distress and guiding personalized interventions.
The CNDDU invites Minister Valditara to promote a new educational season, where bullying prevention is not an emergency intervention but a stable public policy based on scientific data, integrating pedagogical innovation, academic research, and student participation. Schools must return to being communities that educate respect, self-care, and care for others, valuing diversity as a resource, not a reason for exclusion.
Bullying is not juvenile deviance but a symptom of a society that has lost the ability to listen. For this reason, we renew our commitment so that Italian schools become the beating heart of a living, participatory, and scientifically founded human rights culture, where every difference is recognized as a value and every student can finally feel safe.
