Bullying research among preschoolers and the early grades of primary school is still scarce. With the aid of a set of cartoons representing prototypical bullying scenes, we interview 120 schoolchildren (50% girls) from kindergarten to third grade (age range: 5.44–9.58) from three mainstream public schools located in the eastern Community of Madrid, in order to analyse their perceptions regarding this phenomenon. Results show that 94.2% (n = 113) of schoolchildren are able to recognize when a partner is victimized. Nevertheless, significant differences were found by grade (p = 0.017), with kindergarteners giving more responses classified as one-off aggressions. Most students (n = 102) empathize with the victims´ emotions and condemn the bullies’ behavior, regardless of their gender (p = 0.637) or grade (p = 0.578). A total of 53.9% (n = 64) of students think these bullying situations are partly caused by previous conflicts; girls are inclined to think this more often than boys (p = 0.003). Furthermore, 53.8% (n = 64) of the students would request help from their schoolteachers if they were bullied, with no statistically significant differences by gender (p = 0.254) or by grade (p = 0.133). These results serve as a rationale to develop bullying prevention programs from a very early school age to provide information regarding its causation and coping strategies, among others.

This study examined youths’ perceptions of sociometric assessments, and whether these perceptions were especially negative for youths with low social status. Participants were 598 primary and secondary school students (47% female, M _age = 11.80 years, SD = 1.16) who completed a sociometric assessment and rated their immediate experiences with the assessment and its short-term impact one week later. Participants rated the sociometric assessment as not difficult, enjoyable and useful for improving classroom dynamics. One week later, their reports remained positive, with some nuances. Secondary school students provided lower ratings than primary school students. Least popular nominations were associated with less enjoyment, less perceived usefulness, and more relief one week later. Surprisingly, least liked nominations were associated with less difficulty, and in secondary school, with more enjoyment. The results do not support a negative impact of sociometric assessment on early adolescents in general or on those with low status specifically.