Results of the Survey about Prejudices

First, we can see that most of the youngsters aged 13/14 feel concerned about discrimination and bullying. But they don't always know how to react because they feel bad in such circumstances.

Being a teenager is not easy: it is a period where the teenager has to build his/her own personality and affirm oneself with all the difficulties we know. So it is understandable that they can hesitate how to react in case of discrimination. Or they are led by a group's attitude, in a real world (for example: clans of youngsters) or in a virtual world (social network). Today, in 2020, prejudices can be very harmful on everyone's life, young or old. The way people look at us can influence our behaviour.

So here are some comments about the survey itself ... 

Note: we suppose that the survey was proposed to more than the 15 youngsters who really took part in the project as more than 82 people answered the survey in the Netherlands. So the answers might change the final results as they weren't as aware of the subject as their fellows who took part in the project.

To teenagers, prejudices mean at first racism (44,4%). Then bullying (39,8%) and finally teasings (31,5%). Almost half of the youngsters have already suffered from prejudices as a victim. The two main reasons are: physical appearance (37%) and sexual orientation (34,3%). The origin, the skin colour, religion and handicap are also mentioned but less. 

Fortunately most of the victims talked about it to a friend or an adult. But 39% of them didn't say anything. Being a victim is still taboo, we don't want to talk about it. At school, 64,8% of the youngsters have already been witnesses of situations of prejudice or bullying. It is an important percentage ! And the main causes are still there: physical appearance and sexual orientation. 

As a witness, a little majority (58,3%) reacted to the situation. Most of the time the youngsters tried to stop the conflict in order to protect and help the victim. They separated the people concerned by the conflict, they isolated the victim for her/him to keep calm, they tried to talk, they defended the victim, they gave advice (tell the truth, respect one's opinions) and they called an adult, a teacher. Those who didn't react admit they didn't know what to do, how to react or they didn't know the victim. Some didn't want to interfere in someone else's business or were afraid of the consequences. 

Among the teenagers who answered the survey, 63% think prejudices happen at school. This answer is quite logical as they spend most of their time at school. 

Now 52,8% say that they sometimes provoke a negative situation or harm without realizing it. According to the youngsters those are mainly students who hurt others. 

To conclude: 

- To avoid prejudices at school, the youngsters advice to be more respectful, to think before talking and to discuss with one another. 

- When reading these results, we can say it is very important to raise awareness as soon as possible: respecting differences and enhancing the importance of talking to fight prejudices that harm a nice fulfilment of our teenagers. 

Every teenager is in search of his/her own personality and it doesn't always correspond to the codes young people impose to each other. It is not easy at all for our teenagers nowadays. Social networks facilitate negative behaviours and it is more and more difficult for our victims to be trustful again. 

- At school, teachers and educators have a very important role to play: arouse a reflexion on this subject by explaining events from now and then as we did with our Erasmus+ project. But also by giving tracks to fight any kind of dicrimination wether we are the victim, a witness or ... the harasser.

All standing up to say YES to RESPECT for everyone and NO to prejudice. 

By Brigitte Ackerman-Léonard and Anne Collet