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A Peruvian Approach to Preventing Bullying Through Social Skills

In recent years, the role of psychology in addressing bullying in Peru has become increasingly important. As awareness about the emotional and social impact of bullying has grown, psychologists have taken a leading role in developing strategies that go beyond punishment, focusing instead on prevention, emotional education, and healthy social development. Schools across the country are slowly shifting toward a more holistic approach, where understanding the root causes of bullying and promoting empathy and positive relationships are key goals.

In there, an interesting and very encouraging initiative has been developed to tackle bullying in schools: the School Mistreatment Prevention Program based on Social Competence (Programa de Prevención del Maltrato Escolar basado en la Competencia Social). This program was implemented in Chiclayo and focused on something really important when it comes to fighting bullying. Teaching kids how to relate to others in a positive and respectful way.

Instead of just telling students not to bully, the program works on building up their social and emotional skills. It helps them develop empathy, improve communication, manage emotions, and understand how their actions affect others. Basically, it teaches them how to be better friends, classmates, and people in general. And the best part? It actually worked. After going through the program, many students showed real improvements in how they got along with each other. There were fewer signs of aggression, and more cooperation, kindness, and inclusion.

What makes this program especially valuable is that it's backed by science. The results were measured and showed a positive impact. That means this isn’t just a nice idea; it’s a strategy that can actually help reduce bullying and make schools safer and more supportive for everyone.

Programs like this remind us that preventing bullying isn’t just about punishing bad behavior—it's about creating a culture where bullying doesn't make sense in the first place. When students learn how to understand and care for one another, the whole school benefits.


- Nil Sànchez

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Bibliography:

> Sampén-Díaz, M. N., Aguilar-Ramos, M. C., & Tójar-Hurtado, J. C. (2017). Educando la competencia social en Perú. Programa de prevención del maltrato escolar. Revista Electrónica de Investigación Educativa, 19(1), 46-57. https://doi.org/10.24320/redie.2017.19.1.1013


Comments

  1. RoosMay 28, 2025 at 10:51 AM

    Hi, thank you for posting this blog. I think it's a great thing the program focused on improving social- and emotional skills and creating an environment where theres practically no space for bullying and where bullying doesn't make any sense to begin with. I think more countries should creating programs that don't focus on punishing the bad behavior, but focus on creating better behavior. Especially as this has been backed by science that it does, in fact, work a lot better.

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