They ordered a school to change the division of a bullied girl

A civil and commercial court in La Plata ordered a school to change the division of a girl victim of bullying at school after being accredited by means of a psychological report “mistreatment by classmates”. The measure in question was ordered in the context of an appeal for amparo filed with a precautionary measure by the father of the minor victim, after the school’s refusal to make any change in division.

The Civil and Commercial Court 10 of the city of La Plata, in charge of the judge Silvina Cairo “it gave rise to a precautionary measure requested in the context of an amparo appeal; order an establishment (within the same school) of a girl who would be bullied. To make this decision (…) it relied fundamentally on a report prepared by a graduate in psychology from the technical support team for the magistrates of the court”.

The resolution issued, disseminated by the Palabras del Derecho blog, was validated by the Counselor for Minors and People with Disabilities, whose participation is mandatory when minors participate in a process. In this context, Judge Cairo assessed the professional’s analysis as “would explain the anguish and worry that the (bad) treatment given by his classmates would generate in the minoradded to the fact that absolutely all his close and supportive friends were in the other course of the same year”.

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The case originated in the composition of the school divisions according to a draw made by the school institution. The girl was in one division and her inner group of friends in a different class. The school, faced with the request, refused to introduce any changes.

In this context, the judge considered that “the formation of divisions by drawing lots – the basis alleged by the institution for refusing the transfer – cannot prevail against a normative framework of conventional and constitutional hierarchy which guarantees the right of children and adolescents to holistic development, to be heard and to have their views taken into account in all those questions that have them as protagonists”.

“The young girl had not been heard by the school. And although the characteristics of the episodes that so often occur between adolescent peers – as in this case – turn out to be silent, there were warning signs that should have been heeded for a coherent action -at least in front of a psycho-pedagogical team- arbitrating the measures to solve the problem”, he added.

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On the other hand, during the analysis of the amparo action, the magistrate underlined the importance of not delaying the measure requested by the father of the victim, and in reference to the young girl, she underlined -based on the interviews conducted by the psychologist- “the high degree of maturity (…) and the resulting full understanding of the situation experienced and of what is desired”. In this line, in turn, has underlined the “notion of autonomy or progressive capacityof minors and affirmed – on the basis of national and international regulations – that they “can exercise their rights by themselves; even in the absence of a competing will of their legal representatives”.

The judge of La Plata pointed out that in these cases it is essential to “adopt all the necessary positive action measures to guarantee the psychological integrity of the girl”, for which she “imposes on the parents and the establishment that a psychotherapeutic follow-up be carried out on the young girl, respecting her best interests and communicating the results to the Court”.

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