"Bullying" comes from the English language and means "harassment and violence". It refers 

to the deliberate and persistent harassment of children. Bullying is one of the most common forms of violence in educational institutions.

Incidents of bullying among students in educational institutions exist in all countries of the world and have a serious negative impact on children's education.

For information: According to official UNESCO estimates, 246 million minors experience some form of school violence each year.[1] School violence is only one of the most common forms of violence in education.

School violence is not only the cause of psychological disorders of minors who are brought up in unhealthy conditions, but also causes significant damage to the economy of the country.

For reference: in Brazil, the damage caused by school violence to the economy was $943 million annually, while in the U.S. the amount of damage is estimated at $7.9 billion."[2]

Legislation provides for the protection of children from all forms of violence. In particular, under article 10 of the Rights of the Child (Safeguards) Act, the State protects children from all forms of exploitation and violence, including physical and mental abuse. 

and violence, including physical, mental and sexual violence, torture or other forms of cruel, brutal violence or degrading treatment, and sexual violence.

Article 48 of the Education Act also provides that no physical and/or psychological violence shall be inflicted on other participants in the educational process or interfere with the fulfilment of their duties.

In recent years, a number of measures have been taken to prevent violence among pupils in educational establishments. In particular, Presidential Decision No. PP-4884 of 6 November 2020 established social and psychological support centres for children.

For reference: one of the main tasks of these centres is to protect the psychological health of students, prevent various forms of violence, identify students with suicidal tendencies and provide them with social and psychological support.

In addition, Cabinet of Ministers Decision No. 339 of 3 June 2021 introduced a procedure for the appointment of public guardians for minors.

For information: these public guardians work individually with minors who have been neglected or neglected and who have committed delinquent or socially dangerous acts, and also assist parents (or persons in loco parentis) in the upbringing of minors.

At the same time, the unsystematic implementation of measures to prevent juvenile delinquency and crime, especially violence among students in educational institutions, causes negative situations:

- imperfect mechanisms of control over the observance of discipline in educational institutions, particularly in schools, to a certain extent contribute to the increase in the number of crimes and offences committed by schoolchildren.

- minors, especially schoolchildren, increasingly use aggressive (unhealthy) methods of solving mutual problems, and their hooliganism is becoming more and more violent.

- It is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure the safety not only of pupils but also of teachers in educational establishments.

Article 10, paragraph 5, of the Rights of the Child (Safeguards) Act states that the State shall take measures to prevent all forms of exploitation and violence against children and to identify and eliminate the causes and conditions that have allowed them to arise.

However, the absence of a separate comprehensive legislative document on the prevention of violence among pupils in educational institutions has made it impossible to address the problems in this area in a systematic manner.

Currently, a draft law "On the Protection of Children from All Forms of Violence" has been developed and submitted for public discussion.

According to this law, bullying:

- The use of offensive nicknames by a group of children or one child against another child or children, including the victim of violence;

- restriction (boycott) of any communication with him, seizure and (or) damage to his property;

- public discussion of his/her physical, psychological or intellectual characteristics;

- persistent psychological and/or physical aggressive actions expressed in the form of humiliation of honour and dignity or harm to health and life, including through telecommunications networks and the global information network Internet.

At the same time, a road map has been drawn up for the implementation of measures to combat bullying (harassment and violence) in Uzbek educational establishments, under which a number of official organisations have been tasked with systematic work aimed at eliminating this negative situation.

Foreign countries, in particular the United States, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, the Netherlands, Hungary, Romania, China, South Korea, Japan and the Philippines, have adopted a separate legal document aimed at preventing violence among students in educational institutions. Based on these legal instruments, these countries have implemented a number of legal mechanisms aimed at preventing violence in educational institutions. These include:

- Anti-bullying policies have been implemented in educational institutions in theUSA, Canada, the Philippines and Japan. These policies include:

- Establishing procedures for reporting incidents of violence, verifying reports of such incidents, and protecting the person who reports;

- Establishing procedures for anonymous reporting of incidents of violence;

- disciplining students who falsely report incidents of violence;

- Keeping records of cases of violence among students in educational institutions.

- There is a procedure for reporting cases of student violence in educational institutions in the Philippines to the regional offices of the Department of Education.

- In Canada, schools have student violence unitsand school teachers supervise their activities.

- In Hungary, "school guards" are appointed to ensure the safety of teachers and students in educational institutions.

- Argentina has established a national telephone network to report incidents of violence in educational institutions.

- Every school in Peru is required to appoint a psychologist responsible for preventing inter-pupil violence.

- In South Korea, a special committee to combat inter-student violence in educational institutions has been established; the committee evaluates the extent to which the five-year plan of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to prevent inter-student violence in educational institutions is being implemented and reviews and resolves issues related to inter-student violence in educational institutions upon the proposal of the chairman of the local government and the regional branches of the committee.

- In Japan, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will develop a national fundamental policy for the prevention of violence.

- In South Korea, the United Kingdom and Australia, a portal has been created to easily report public order and safety violations to law enforcement agencies. The portal allows you to report to law enforcement agencies violations committed by students on school grounds or at other educational institutions.

- In Kazakhstan, employees of educational institutions are administratively liable for failure to report offences committed by minors to law enforcement agencies in accordance with the established procedure.

Of course, foreign experience shows that the prevention of the problem of bullying in schools is highlighted as an important direction of state policy for the protection of children's rights, and it is important for official state bodies to take consistent and targeted measures against this problem. within the limits of their competence.

But at the same time, the role of various child-related public organisations is extremely important in this process. Taking Australia as an example, there is a public organisation called "Bullying. No Way!", which is dedicated to combating bullying in schools. The organisation organises information campaigns, seminars and training for students, parents and teachers to raise awareness of bullying and its consequences.

Through the efforts of Bullying. No Way!" and others like it, Australia has been able to raise awareness of bullying, train educators in effective coping methods and support victims of bullying. This has led to a reduction in the incidence of bullying in schools and an improvement in the overall atmosphere in educational institutions.

Of course, if our public organisations developed a number of recommendations and methods to prevent bullying, it would have a positive impact on the prevention of this process.

For example, on the part of various community organisations:

- From various forms of bullying (protection of children from harassment and violence): verbal, physical, social, cyber-bullying (harassment of students through mobile phones, e-mail, social networks, blogs, personal messages). information about them (preparation and coverage of various materials in the media in order to protect students from spreading (photo, video), slander).

- Organisation of volunteer activities aimed at preventing mutual harassment and violence between students and youth studying in educational institutions, methodological, informational, advisory and organisational support, introduction of practices to support and encourage active volunteer student youth.

- It is important to support measures such as preparing and displaying banners in the streets on the protection of children from oppression and violence, providing information on who to contact through reminders in vehicles and the media.

Provision of counselling and support to child victims of violence and witnesses of such situations by community-based organisations. Community organisations can create safe spaces where children can express their feelings and receive support from experienced professionals.

With the development of information technology, a new type of bullying has also emerged: cyberbullying, which is a form of electronic abuse in which minors may be bullied, intimidated or threatened in online communities, social networks or through messages.

Online grooming occurs through emails, social networking sites, chat rooms, online gaming sites accessed via personal computers and laptops, tablets and mobile phones. A 2012 survey of 1,718 children aged 11 to 16 in the UK found that 42 per cent had received email attachments from strangers, 37 per cent had added a stranger to their messaging contacts and 35 per cent had added a stranger to their social networking friend group. They can better connect with minors and gain their trust more easily, which ultimately brings a sexual element to their relationship.

Thus, the active participation of community organisations in the lives of children undoubtedly provides a basis for preventing cases of violence among students in educational institutions, improving mechanisms for combating such violations, and, most importantly, for educating children in a healthy environment.