Introduction Peer Violence is a behavior that is being

shown in our schools more often. You can start with small quarrels that

gradually increased to reach extremely violent actions.

In recent years we have witnessed unfortunate events related to the conduct.

This presentation shows the theme of Bullying as a violent behavior in school.

Bullying The term bullying (Olweus, 1978)

is now common in the literature on the topic of Bullying among schoolchildren, to refer the situation sustained, mental or physical, guided by an individual or a group, directed against another individual in the group who is unable to defend himself.

Types of Bullying Physical Harassment: hitting, pushing,

grabbing hair, biting. Verbal Harassment: Threats, insults,

teasing about appearance, the way they dress, jeers for some physical impairment, make rumors, lies.

Social Bullying: when excluded a group member to participate in activities.

Cyberbullying: using technology to spread messages about the victim (e-mail, text messages, web pages).

Bullying Laws in Puerto Rico

Law Num. 256 from 2012

The Student Regulations for Public Education System include within its text, the following definition of the act of harassing and intimidating ("bullying"). This act shall be defined as any action taken intentionally, by any act, whether verbal, written or physical, that has the effect of intimidating students and interfere with children's education, their educational opportunity and performance in the classroom .

Bullying Laws in Puerto Rico

Law Project, Act No. 37 of 2008 As Bullying Law Project, Act No. 37 of 2008 , proposed

by the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as an amend of Article 16 of Law No. 149 of 1999 , known as the " General Council of Education Puerto Rico 1999 " in order to secure the renewal or issuance of licenses for operate private preschools , elementary, secondary , vocational, technical and high level skills to those institutions that have conclusively evidencing and implement policies and defined , specific and enforceable against the harassment and intimidation ( bullying ) among students protocols.

“Bullying” case on Puerto Rico

The most recent and notorious case took place on Ponce, Puerto Rico on march 2013, when a High school student assaulted other girl, videotape the crime and post it on Facebook.

She was send to jail for six months and then a rehabilitation program.

• Medina (2012), present a study in which she investigating the prevalence of bullying behavior, or “bullying”, in schools in Puerto Rico. As results, the study revealed a low incidence of this behavior in contrast to the image projected by the country’s media.

• Lugo (2013), describes the methodological design of a study that will analyze the causes, characteristics, effects and possible solutions for school violence prevention from the children’s perspective.

• Mercado (2013), presented her study about bullying in preadolescents in Puerto Rico (PR).  The results of this study indicated that twenty percent of all participants were victimized by bullying at least 2-3 times per month. On the other hand, 5% of participants said they had been a bully 2-3 times per month.

Bullying Studies in Puerto Rico

Conclusion

After this research we discovered that bullying is a delinquent behavior. Puerto Rico contemplate this conduct as a crime. As students, we should learn that we shouldn’t do to others what don’t like others do to us. This work teach us that bullying is a serious behavior that could send anyone to court, even to jail.

References Lugo, E. (2013). Acción y transformación para la prevención

de la violencia escolar a través de la Investigación Participativa de Base Comunitaria con niños y niñas. Revista Puertorriqueña de Psicología Asociación de Psicología de Puerto Rico Vol. 24, 2013

Medina, M. (2012). El acoso, o “bullying”, en escuelas intermedias de la región educativa de San Juan: Implicaciones para los consejeros profesionales. Cuaderno de investigación en la educación. Issn 1540-0786 Número 27 • diciembre 2012 • pp. 161-180

Mercado, M. (2013). "The Role of Connectedness and Religious Factors on Bullying Participation among Preadolescents in Puerto Rico" (2013). Graduate School Theses and Dissertations. Retrieved from: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4545