We had a guest speaker in my psychology class this week to talk about his work as an educational psychologist. His name is Ezekiel, but I’ll call him Zeke. I was convinced that I was going to learn a lot from him. Sadly, I was right. Not because it was insightful, but because it was shocking and disappointing.
One of the first things I learned is that not every private or public school here has a counselor like they do in the United States. According to Zeke, many schools don’t feel an educational psychologist is important and, in some cases, see the role as an unnecessary expense.
WHAT?????
Since when is a child’s psychological well-being considered optional?
The conversation took a turn when Zeke brought up bullying. He argued that it has been overly publicized as a modern threat, when in reality it has always existed and is not as serious as people make it out to be.
That perspective caught me off guard.
From what I’ve observed, name calling in Argentina is often treated casually. This isn’t limited to kids or teenagers. It cuts across all ages and genders. At times, it even carries a racial undertone. For example, while I was waiting for the bus, one student called another “Chileno.” The student, who wasn’t even from Chile, was clearly offended and reacted angrily. There seems to be a strong underlying tension toward Chileans, though I can’t fully explain why.
I experienced something similar in class a few weeks ago, too. A professor mentioned how an American psychologist once claimed that their investigative method should be the standard for all psychological research. A student sitting behind me shouted, “typical Americans thinking they are better than everyone else.” Whether he realized it or not, the comment was directed at me. Or maybe he just didn’t care.
Beyond verbal remarks, I’ve also heard of more severe forms of bullying in Argentina. In some public schools, girls who are considered too pretty have reportedly been attacked and had their faces cut. While the forms of abuse may differ between Argentina and the U.S., the targets are often the same. Kids are singled out for being too smart or not smart enough, too attractive or not attractive enough, rich or poor, gay or straight, dark skinned or light skinned.
Thinking back to Zeke’s comments, one moment during the discussion stood out. A classmate shared her daughter’s experience with bullying. It had gotten so bad that her daughter had to change schools three times. To me, this sounded like a clear failure of the system. Without proper support in schools, families are left to deal with these situations on their own. Yet most people in the class seemed to believe the issue was the girl, not the bullies.
The mother then asked Zeke why therapists tend to focus on the victim rather than the bully. It was a fair question. After all, moving a child from school to school does not solve the underlying problem if the behavior itself is never addressed.
Zeke responded that, from a psychological standpoint, it is simply easier to work with the victim than with the aggressor. The mother disagreed, but when she tried to push the point further, he shut the conversation down and shifted to something else entirely. That, more than anything, was a grim eye-opener.
If this mindset is common among educational psychologists here, it raises serious concerns. The United States has already seen the long term consequences of failing to address bullying properly. Some students have taken their own lives. Others avoid school altogether. Many carry the emotional damage into adulthood in the form of anxiety, depression, or deep social isolation. In extreme cases, some have lashed out violently, not just at their bullies, but at entire schools.
The reality is that even the most resilient person has a breaking point. When that line is crossed, the outcome can be unpredictable and devastating.
Bullying has been recognized as a serious issue in the United States for decades. In Argentina, it may not yet be treated with the same urgency, but the signs are there. Ignoring it doesn't make it harmless.
If anything, it allows the problem to grow.
Bullying should never be seen as trivial. And if attitudes like Zeke’s reflect a broader perspective, then the real risk is not just what is happening now, but what could happen next.
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