Introduction to the special monograph on ‘Youth at a crossroads. School violence, sexual violence and mental health’.

Abstract

The fact that child and youth violence and mental health problems are a growing reality in our society is something that we do not fail to see in our daily lives and this is also affirmed by the latest studies on violence and mental health. According to the latest report by the Anar Foundation and Mutua Madrileña, one in ten students (11.8%) believe that in their class there are classmates who suffer bullying, compared to 24.4% in the previous year, and insults, name-calling and teasing continue to be the main form of aggression, with physical aggression dropping by 20 points compared to the previous year's study. According to this report, ‘As for cyberbullying, this telematic form of bullying has also decreased in the last academic year, with the perception standing at 7.4% (0.8 percentage points less than the previous year). The means through which cyberbullying is committed are WhatsApp (70.2%), Instagram (49.6%) and TikTok (38.5%). In primary school, TikTok, online games and Twitch stand out with higher percentages than in secondary school’. Faced with this reality, it is necessary to continue to study its aetiology, risk factors and protection factors against this type of violence.