BULLYING IN MEXICO: STATISTICS, CASES AND ASSOCIATIONS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The bullying in Mexico is one of the biggest problems in this country. According to the statistics compiled in 2017, Mexico is the country in the world that registers the most cases of bullying per year. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that some 18.8 million basic education students have suffered bullying at some time.

Due to the seriousness of the issue and the number of registered cases, experts are trying to investigate bullying in Mexico in a multidisciplinary way. Adding the cases of traditional bullying and cyberbullying, it is estimated that one in four children will suffer from this problem in their lifetime.

The consequences of these alarming figures are extremely worrying: in the states of Chihuahua, Guanajuato, Nuevo León, Jalisco, Puebla, the State of Mexico, Mexico City and Tabasco (where the highest number of cases occurs), 59% of the Suicides of children between the ages of 10 and 13 are due to bullying.

Statistics

The international NGO Bullying Sin Fronteras collected data from both Spain and Latin America. According to research carried out by this institution, cases of bullying have exploded in Mexico in recent years. In fact, this study indicates that the Central American country leads the world in terms of the number of bullying cases.

In total, the list of the 20 countries with the most cases of bullying in the world (in order) is as follows: Mexico, United States, China, Spain, Japan, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, France, Denmark and Norway.

Due to the worrying data, the NGO decided to investigate further into the types of bullying that occur and their motives. The results were the following:

- 85% of cases of bullying occur at school.

- 1 in 4 children (and according to some sources, even 1 in 2) has suffered or will suffer bullying at some time in their life.

- 82% of children with disabilities suffer bullying. This number increases in the case of homosexuals, who suffer it in up to 90% of cases.

- Only 20% of bullying cases are reported to teachers; the rest are never reported.

- 60% of bullies are part of at least one criminal incident in their adult life, once they have dropped out of education.

- Bullying causes about 3 million Mexican children to miss school each year.

Featured Cases

Although all cases of bullying are worrying, sometimes there are some that set off all the alarms from the press and those responsible for security within the educational system.

In Mexico, this type of extreme bullying occurs with relative frequency. Below we will describe two of the most shocking cases.

Harassed by her accent

This case was especially talked about in the Mexican media because the incident was recorded on video. In the footage you can see a fight between a boy and a girl, both belonging to the José María Morelos and Pavón de Hermosillo elementary school, in the town of Sonora.

The girl protagonist of the video was frequently harassed by her classmates due to her accent, originally from another region of the country. The two minors begin to use physical violence, scratching, pushing and pulling each other's hair, while the rest of the class records everything with their mobile.

At one point the boy leaves the classroom, but supported by the shouts of his classmates (with messages like "a girl hit you" and "you're the man, give it back!"), He returns to class and grabs his neck companion. Without controlling his strength, he strangles her until the girl is unconscious.

The incident had repercussions for the school, as both the girl's teacher and the principal were dismissed by the Secretary of State. The girl's parents decided to leave Sonora to avoid similar problems in the future.

Killed by his companions

Undoubtedly one of the most macabre cases recorded in recent times is the one that occurred in June 2011 at the Colegio de Bachilleres del Estado de Morelos (Cobaem).

During this incident, one of the school students was found dead after receiving a beating from his classmates. The autopsy showed that the cause of death was violence, since the child had suffocated when suffering strong blows in various areas of his abdomen.

According to the reconstruction of the events, the young man received a particularly brutal beating before going to class, and during the course of the school day he began to feel bad. When the emergency services were called, it was too late and the boy could not be revived.

Associations and institutions against harassment

Due to the large number of bullying cases that occur in Mexico each year, in recent times numerous associations have been created that seek to deal with this growing problem.

For its part, the Government has also responded by creating institutions and campaigns against bullying. Some of the most important entities are the following:

- Secretary of Public Education.

- Integral development of the family.

- Foundation In Motion.

- Mexican Institute for Comprehensive Prevention.

- Network of the Rights of the Child in Mexico.

How to act in case of

If you suspect that your child or one of your students may be suffering a case of bullying, here are a series of recommendations to help you in this difficult situation:

- Generate a safe space for communication with him, so that he does not feel judged no matter what happens. If the child feels that he can trust you, he will talk more freely about his problems.

- Help him understand what is happening. Make him see that being bullied has more to do with a problem with the bully than with his; but at the same time, encourage him to improve if he thinks that can help him overcome the situation.

- Seek professional help. Sometimes we adults feel helpless in the face of a problem that is beyond us. If you think your child is being bullied, asking a psychologist or an association specialized in bullying for help can save him a lot of suffering.

Themes of interest

Types of bullying.

Psychological abuse.

Types of violence.

Dating violence.

References

1. "Bullying. Mexico. Statistics 2017 ”in: Bullying Without Borders. Retrieved on: March 21, 2018 from Bullying Sin Fronteras: bullyingsinfronteras.blogspot.com.
2. "Bullying in Mexico" in: Anti Bullying. Retrieved on: March 21, 2018 from Anti Bullying: bullyingcaav.blogspot.com.
3. "A Multidisciplinary Look at Bullying in Mexico" in: Conacyt Prensa. Retrieved on: March 21, 2018 from Conacyt Prensa: conactyprensa.mx.
4. "Six scandalous cases of bullying in Mexico" in: Sin Embargo. Retrieved on: March 21, 2018 from However: sinembargo.mx.
5. "Directory of Institutions against Bullying" in: Colegio de Bachilleres del Estado de Veracruz. Retrieved on: March 21, 2018 from the Colegio de Bachilleres del Estado de Veracruz: cobaev.edu.mx.