I have been wondering if bullying has something to do with culture and if there are differences between countries in this topic. As usual, we have been studying this subject with the perspective of our culture, that is usually referred as western civilisation. I don’t like calling me “western”, because I believe there are a lot of differences between countries in Europe, and of course North America, and there are also cultural differences inside my country. That is one of the reasons I like meeting people from different countries and doing subjects like this with some abroad students. Everyone has different and interesting perspectives and experiences, and it makes a richer learning process in class. On the other hand, despite our differences we have also a lot in common, and it becomes clear when if we compare our cultures with some Asian ones. This is why here we usually have common knowledge, rules and methods, and in this countries' science usually only studies the concepts and phenomena from this part of the world and from this “western” perspective.
I wanted to see if there are studies analysing other cultures, and I found an interesting one called “Victimization by traditional bullying and cyberbullying and the combination of these among adolescents in 13 European and Asian countries”. It analyses a huge number (28,427) of teenagers (13–15 years old) from 13 different countries from Europe and Asia, that are China, Finland, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, Russia, Singapore and Vietnam. Students from all these countries answered the same questionnaire to find information about bullying and cyberbullying. Despite being some differences between countries, there is bullying and cyberbullying in all the studied countries in a similar proportion. The main conclusion of the study is that it occurs everywhere, and it is a big problem for the children and teenagers all around the world, so we should focus on making interventions to reduce bullying behaviour instead of focusing in finding out where or in which format it is occurring. So after all, I think we are not that different.
I was surprised by your post because I had never really thought about analysing bullying from different cultural contexts. Sometimes I make the mistake of assuming that the way we see things here is the same everywhere else, but clearly that’s not the case. Your reflection made me realise how important it is to step outside our own point of view and consider how culture shapes the way people understand and respond to issues like bullying.
ReplyDeleteThis is something I’ve started to notice myself. Although I was born and raised in Spain, my family is originally from Morocco, and growing up between these two cultures has shaped the way I see certain social issues. For example, I’ve realised, both from what I’ve seen during visits and from what my relatives in Morocco have told me, that bullying is sometimes not recognised as a serious problem, often being dismissed as part of childhood or even seen as something that will help you toughen up. This attitude can make it more difficult for victims to speak up or get support. There’s also less focus in schools on emotional well-being, and therefore many cases go unnoticed. Still, things are slowly changing, especially among younger people who are more open to talking about mental health and respectful behaviour.
What I find most important, beyond the cultural comparisons, is asking ourselves what we can do as individuals. Are we creating safe spaces for others? Do we speak up when we see something unfair? I believe bullying is not just about individual cruelty, but also about social dynamics like power, exclusion, silence. So dealing with it means reflecting on our own role in these dynamics.
In the end, I agree that despite cultural differences, bullying is a universal issue but how we respond to it should be adapted to each context. Sharing our different perspectives in a blog like this is already a valuable step forward.