[School bullying and violence in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country]

School bullying and violence in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. This study explores some characteristics of school bullying in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, using descriptive methodology. The sample comprises 5,983 participants from ages 10 to 16 years, distributed in 169 schools, to whom the Defensor del Pueblo School Violence Questionnaire was administered. The results reveal that: 1) the great majority of the students feel well treated by their teachers and a percentage of teachers (5.3%-12.2%) are mistreated by the students; 2) between 3% and 4.5% of the students are quite often afraid to go to school; 3) most of the victims from Primary Education talk about their problems with their families and those from Secondary Education, with their friends; 4) witnesses intervene to stop a bullying situation when the victim is their friend, and the aggressors perceive that many classmates encourage them, help them, or do not do anything; and 5) some Primary students think that the teachers punish the aggressors, whereas in Secondary Education, they perceive that the teachers are inhibited by this situation. The results suggest the need for strategies to identify school bullying and for psychoeducational intervention.