Verbal Abuse in Kindergarten and Primary School

Abstract

In Slovenia and abroad, there is a fairly extensive literature on abuse of different forms, making it appear that there are very different and specific uses of certain terms that indicate the same activity or issue, such as abuse, aggression, aggression, suffering, forcing, and bullying. One of the common forms of abuse is verbal abuse, namely verbal expressions of disrespect to the victim. We live in a time when social inequality is very quickly growing among the residents of the Republic of Slovenia. In various documents produced by the European Union, preschool education in particular, but also primary school education in general, is shown to be something that contributes to fairness in the whole educational system, and has an important role in promoting social inclusion and reducing the socioeconomic and other differences among children. Therefore, I was particularly interested in whether and how verbal abuse is demonstrated as a result of the intolerance and discriminatory practices in Slovenian kindergartens and primary schools. For this purpose, a survey of the beliefs of students of three undergraduate study programmes in the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana about verbal abuse in Slovenian kindergarten and primary school was conducted. The results showed that the interviewed students perceived various representations of verbal abuse in kindergarten and primary school, and that there should be continuous education to achieve a so-called culture of active tolerance, that would help in the identification of forms of intolerance and discriminatory practices.

Keywords

• verbal abuse, child, kindergarten, primary school, students’ beliefs