Abstract
This chapter describes previous research on bullying and cyberbullying carried out among Italian students, as well as the Italian school policy on the prevention and reduction of peer aggression. The chapter aims to describe the prevalence of bullying and cyberbullying among Italian students in middle and high school, taking into account the role of gender and Grade level and present brief stories about how young people relate at school. In the present study, 494 middle school students (Grades six to eight) and 405 high school students (Grades nine and ten) completed the Italian version of the Student Aggression and Victimisation Questionnaire (SAVQ, Skrzypiec, 2015). Results showed a relatively high incidence of peer aggression, mainly in the offline rather than in the online context, both in middle and high school, involving both males and females. However, slight differences in specific behaviours were found in terms of gender and Grade level. The qualitative analysis of the brief stories revealed that several students considered their relationships at school as positive. The narratives highlighted differences between face-to-face and online relationships and described some episodes of prevarication. These findings are discussed taking into account the Italian context and providing suggestions for future prevention policies.