Tackling bullying: Victimized by peers as a pupil, an effective intervener as a teacher?

The present study focuses on student teachers as a prospective special resource in the prevention of school bullying in the course of their future professional careers. Special attention is paid to the influence the respondents' own childhood experiences of bullying may have in this regard. To investigate this question, we assessed the respondents' estimations of the level of empathy they felt towards the victims of bullying, the degree of effort they made to prevent bullying, and their ability to identify it. Further, an attempt to assess the long-term consequences of bullying was made, using two different communicative indices: the willingness to communicate and self-perceived communication competence. It is suggested that teachers' own experiences of victimization may enhance their ability to communicate effectively when fighting against bullying at school.