“For the fourth year in a row, my brother asks our parents every evening if he can skip school the next day.”
Lena’s [name changed] younger brother is now in the 9th grade, but ever since the 5th grade, he’s been reluctant to attend school—not because he’s lost interest in learning, but simply to avoid another day of being bullied.
According to her, their parents have raised the issue with the school administration, but teachers seem unable to control the students.
“Talking to the bully’s parents is pointless; it might even trigger more bullying. Instead, we’re forced to teach self-defense and resort to countering violence with violence,” Lena says.
Lena’s brother is, unfortunately, one of thousands of schoolchildren in Armenia grappling with the phenomenon of bullying. While the term “bullying” has only recently entered the lexicon of Armenia’s educational system, the issue itself has long existed.
According to a joint study by Save the Children and World Vision Armenia in 2017, while most students were reluctant to admit experiencing violence themselves, 40% of those surveyed reported witnessing children being physically hit or punched in their communities. Meanwhile, 43% had observed instances of ridicule at school at least 1 to 5 times.
According to surveys conducted by World Vision Armenia in 2019 across several communities in six regions of Armenia, 8.7% of children aged 12-18 reported being bullied within the past year, with school being the most common setting for such incidents. The study also highlighted that 12.5% of children from vulnerable families fall victim to bullying.
Although all studies highlight the widespread occurrence of bullying in schools, it turns out that as of the end of 2024, the term “bullying” is still not defined by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia. As a result, there is no official identification, referral, or tracking of bullying cases, and relevant statistics are not being kept.
There is no official identification, referral, or tracking of bullying cases, and relevant statistics are not being kept.
In response to a query from Ampop Media, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of the Republic of Armenia states that although they do not have any statistics, they are collaborating with several local and international organizations to prevent bullying cases. This collaboration involves conducting training sessions for educators and psychologists.
“When receiving information about bullying incidents, specialists from the Republican Pedagogical and Psychological Center hold meetings with targeted groups of pupils, school principals, and teachers,” the ministry states.
The ministry cannot comment on the effectiveness of this approach, as it does not have the opportunity to compare numerical changes due to the lack of statistical data.
According to Misha Tadevosyan, a candidate of pedagogical sciences, if the ministry wants to conduct statistical monitoring, it needs a comprehensive research toolkit to map similar incidents across schools throughout the country. However, to be aware of such cases in schools, it must have an inter-school mechanism to record both visible and hidden incidents.
Maintaining the moral and psychological atmosphere of schools and recording violations is also the responsibility of the RA Education Inspection Body.
This institution ensures compliance with legislative requirements, contributes to improving the quality of education, manages risks in the education sector, and implements preventive measures in case of violations of the aforementioned standards.
For the first time, the term “bullying” was mentioned in the report by the inspection body in the first half of 2024. The report highlights a growing trend in bullying cases raised in complaints, specifically noting five incidents of bullying. Of these, two resulted in formal directives, two were redirected, and one received clarification.
According to Edgar Petrosyan, head of the Department of Professional Methodological Support at the Main Division of Community Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia, the majority of bullying reports come from parents, with a notable increase in reports received from school principals in recent times.
According to Petrosyan, the law stipulates that there must be a moderate injury for an individual to be detained. If such injury is not present, the Investigative Committee will not have grounds to initiate criminal proceedings.
“We had a bullying case that escalated into a dispute. A parent came to the school, took the other child out of class, and hit him. Here, for example, there is a violation of safety regulations. We prepared a letter on this matter and sent it to the relevant authorities, requesting them to initiate disciplinary proceedings. However, we were informed that there was no need for disciplinary action. Instead, they held a meeting to try to prevent such incidents in the future.”
When asked about the actions taken in schools where bullying incidents occur more frequently, Petrosyan explains that in such cases, the school receives intensified monitoring for a certain period, unlike other schools.
The police states that bullying falls under the category of juvenile and domestic violence cases, which are handled by the Police’s Department of Professional Methodological Support. However, the police do not maintain separate statistics on bullying incidents. Despite this, they do track cases related to the prevention of interpersonal conflicts among minors in schools and institutions offering secondary vocational education.
The police track instances where officers intervene to prevent interpersonal disputes among minors, not only in schools but also in vocational education institutions. According to this record-keeping, 1,632 cases were prevented in 2022, 695 in 2023, and 289 cases during the first six months of 2024.
The police report that they regularly conduct awareness campaigns in schools, involving students, parents, and school staff, to minimize violations, including incidents containing elements of bullying.
This is one type of preventive work, while the other involves individual preventive efforts, where, after an incident, the police conduct one-on-one work not only with minors but also with their parents, their environment, and the teaching staff.
The Office of the Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) reports receiving complaints about bullying incidents in schools, both written and verbal. In many cases, it was the children themselves who reported the bullying. From 2022 until October 1, 2024, the number of written and verbal complaints regarding violence and mistreatment of children amounted to 218, with 82 of those occurring in the first nine months of this year alone.
Moreover, according to the information provided by the Office of the Human Rights Defender, bullying incidents have occurred not only between students but also involving teachers towards students. In some cases, appropriate measures have been taken against such teachers, including warnings, stern warnings, and, in certain instances, criminal proceedings have been initiated.
The Ombudsman Office notes that awareness campaigns and meetings on the topic of bullying are periodically held in schools with students and teaching staff.
Psychologist and psychotherapist Ani Barseghyan emphasizes that when addressing the issue of bullying, it is crucial to involve all relevant parties. In addition to the child who has been bullied, efforts must also focus on the person responsible for the bullying, as well as the teacher, the surrounding community, and the parents.
The psychologist notes that while the focus is often on the person who has been bullied, the individual responsible for bullying is also typically a victim of bullying or violence. According to Barseghyan, those who bully are often from families where physical punishment is used.
“Parents show by example that every problem can be solved through force and violence,” the psychologist explains, adding, “Unable to respond to violence or bullying at home in the same way, the child expresses his/her aggression toward peers at school. Our job is also to understand the one who bullies, offer support, help, and empathize. They are victims, too.”
The psychologist further mentions that, despite the importance, work with those who bully is usually ineffective, as they rarely seek help from psychologists, often exploiting their power and impunity.
Another reason for the difficulty is the limited working hours of school psychologists, as they primarily focus on children with inclusion needs, leaving little time for other children, and bullying often takes a back seat.
In children’s education, emotional communication and imaginative development should be prioritized, enabling children to recognize their emotional responses and develop communication skills.
Misha Tadevosyan notes with optimism that the draft law on the “Children’s Rights and Child Protection” is currently under consideration. If passed, it will mark the first time in Armenia’s educational history that the concept of child bullying will be officially defined. The draft outlines specific criteria that will allow for the classification of incidents in schools as bullying and provide guidance on how teachers should respond and where they should seek support when faced with such issues.
“The positive aspect is that the draft provides a procedural roadmap, already at the legal level. However, this is not enough. We know well that we can have well-written regulations, procedures, and laws, but to bring them to life, we need skilled educators and other individuals within the educational system who have the necessary expertise to recognize whether an incident is simply a conflict between two children or is truly bullying,” Tadevosyan emphasizes.
He concludes by noting that bullying usually starts when one person initiates an action and the others remain indifferent. We must stop being indifferent to the culture of violence and be the first person to say ‘no’ to bullying in the school environment.
Authored by Lusine Grigoryan
Infographics by Karine Darbinyan
Main image by Imagine AI
Design by Van Simon
The story has been prepared by Ampop Media in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES). The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and are not necessarily aligned with those of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
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First Published: 09/01/2025
