Almost 50% of students were victims of bullying in schools, and 27% admit that they were aggressors, reveals a study by the organization Salvati Copiii/Save the Children Romania.

The research, released on Tuesday, was carried out through an online questionnaire in June, on a non-probability sample of 4,449 students, aged between 10-18 years. 91% of students from urban schools and 9% from rural schools participated.

One of the conclusions of the study was that 99% of respondents are familiar with the term bullying.

82% of the students declared that they witnessed bullying situations in the school where they study, and almost three quarters (73%) stated that they witnessed bullying situations in the classroom.

Almost half of the respondents (49%) specified that they were victims of bullying, while 1 in 10 said that they were often or very often in such situations.

"Social networks are indicated as an environment where children frequently witness bullying situations - 79% of them stating that they have witnessed such situations, and 45% declaring that they witness cyberbullying often or very often," the research says.

84% of the students stated that, in bullying situations, they actively intervened to support the victim. A little over a third (34%) of the students state that they were in the position of passive witness to bullying situations.

Three quarters of children (74%) claim that they talk to adults about bullying situations, and 22% of them say that they do this rarely or very rarely.

More than three quarters of the respondents (77%) say that, in bullying situations, the adult who intervenes is the teacher in charge. With a lower frequency (51%), the school principal was indicated, followed by other teaching staff (42%), other students (35%), the duty teacher (25%), the school counselor (18%), while 2 % of respondents claim that no one intervenes in such situations.

"Bullying is an extremely dangerous phenomenon, which traumatizes all the actors involved: the victim, the aggressor and the silent witness. Situations of harassment and violence paralyze normal social reactions and leave traces on the emotional health of children. It is important to recognize the signs, to speak with the children and to carry out activities that will teach them to be together, to play, to collaborate and to build positive social relations," the executive president of the Salvati Copiii/Save the Children Romania organization, Gabriela Alexandrescu, said.

"One child out of three faced anxiety and needed counseling and psycho-emotional support, the percentage rising to over 50% in the case of teenagers, leading to extremely serious consequences, namely suicide attempts," the organization states.AGERPRES(RO - author: Irinela Visan, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - editor: Maria Voican)