Over the last two school years, the CLB has had to intervene more than 3,000 times each time in situations of school bullying. In 2018-2019, however, the number of complaints remained below 3,000 and, in 2019-2020, it even fell to 2,200. Although the figures for this school year are distorted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown it has caused.
“The fact that we are now seeing a new increase is not a good sign and it worries us,” says Stefan Grielens, director of the CLB in the Free (Catholic) Network. “It may be that students or parents are more likely to turn to the CLB to report bullying, but research conducted by Ghent University (UGent) also confirms that after years of decline, bullying at school is on the rise again.”
“And that’s not really a surprise,” says Stefan Grielens. “The growth of social media has something to do with it. Bullying often continues outside of school hours. But there are also more students with behavioral problems, and bullying is one of them. Schools are facing a shortage of teachers and other challenges. So it’s not unreasonable that cases of bullying are coming to light a little less.”
Below is the number of reports of school bullying to the CLB:
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