Panama’s Ministry of Education opened the school year this week to a surge in reported student aggression. Officials logged 274 formal complaints of bullying on the first day alone, a figure revealed by a leading prevention expert. The alarming data points to a systemic crisis involving both students and staff across the nation’s schools.
Victor Smoly, the executive director of the Global Bullying Prevention Organization, provided the statistics. He detailed that a significant portion of the incidents, 32 percent, involved mistreatment by teachers. This misconduct reportedly includes verbal abuse and insults occurring inside classrooms. The tragic severity of the issue was underscored by two adolescent suicides linked to harassment during the first week of the academic year.
“We are practically equal in the number of complaints,” Smoly stated, comparing public and private institutions. [Translated from Spanish] He noted a troubling evolution in the nature of the aggression. Physical violence remains more prevalent in public schools, he said, while private schools see higher rates of psychological abuse and cyberbullying.
The expert warned that the problem has escalated beyond traditional bullying. He described a dangerous shift toward armed violence among students, including weapons like knives and firearms. Smoly directly connected this trend to international media influences and a dangerous copycat effect among youths.
Systemic Failures in Prevention and Support
Smoly argued that every bullying case is preventable but cited a catastrophic breakdown in communication at home. Many parents, he observed, now interact with their children primarily through brief text messages. This digital disconnect prevents families from identifying early warning signs of deep emotional distress, suicidal ideation, or depression.
The infrastructure for support within schools is also critically lacking. Panama faces a severe shortage of mental health professionals dedicated to its student population. Smoly criticized the absence of psycho-pedagogical counseling offices in many educational centers. The country needs over three thousand school psychologists it simply does not have, he explained.
“We must address the bullying issue immediately. We must establish the National Observatory for the Prevention of Bullying,” Smoly urged. [Translated from Spanish] He emphasized that current protocols are reactive and ineffective, activated only after severe harm has already occurred.
The core need is for proactive prevention and early identification, a task for which most teachers are not prepared. For families, Smoly’s primary recommendation is to detect a child’s emotional absence. He described a common scenario where a parent asks about their child’s day and receives a one-word answer, revealing a profound lack of meaningful dialogue.
Victor Smoly serves as the executive director of his organization and continues to advocate for legislative and institutional reform. His urgent call highlights a national emergency that extends from the classroom to the home, demanding a coordinated response to protect Panama’s students.