The TEI program for peer tutoring and the prevention of bullying: its influence on social skills and empathy among Secondary School students

Abstract

Bullying is a phenomenon that afflicts millions of students around the world, severely harming their emotional and psychological well-being. In response to this challenge, the TEI program (Tutoría Entre Iguales or Peer Tutoring) has been developed as a bullying prevention strategy, aiding students in acquiring social skills and emotional strategies for conflict resolution. The purpose of this research is to examine social skills and empathy among different actors involved in bullying (non-involved, victim, bully, and bully-victim) among secondary school students and to evaluate the impact of the TEI program on the development of relational competencies. A comparative, ex post facto study was conducted in three schools where the TEI program has been implemented (TEI schools) and three where it has not (non-TEI schools). A total of 738 secondary school students (ESO) participated in the study, using a standardized questionnaire to evaluate their perception of bullying. The results of this study demonstrate higher levels of assertiveness and empathy in the non-involved and victim groups. However, lower levels of conflict resolution skills were found in the bully-victim group. In TEI schools, a higher percentage of students not involved in bullying and a lower percentage of bully-victims were observed. Additionally, students in TEI schools scored higher in assertiveness, conflict resolution skills, social skills, and empathy. These findings highlight the importance of developing students’ relational competencies and implementing strategies for bullying prevention to create a safe, healthy, and positive learning environment in schools.