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In March, 2008, during a physics lesson in a Budapest Grammar School a pupil assaulted his teacher; he kicked at him, decried him, and wanted to fight. The scene was filmed on a cell phone by one of his classmates and placed on the Internet. Pictures of the 2.5 minutes long recording were spread over the Hungarian media within days; it was probably the first “bullying” case that caused a national stir.
The Parents' and Children's Consultation Center (PCCC) is an institution that belongs to the Ministry of Education and is organized for the free psychological service of children and families. In the capital, each district has its own PCCC; to date they do predominantly diagnostic and consulting work. There is hardly any time for psychotherapy due to the growing number of children presenting and to the lack of financial resources. Many incidents are unreported school cases, but it is important that these are not restricted to the problem of hot tempered child/intimidated teacher.
Following there were many other cases resembling the earlier mentioned one. In May, 2008, two secondary school students beat up their classmate, a 17-year-old boy, then threw him into a lake where he drowned. The reason for the act was “personal”. In the same year, a 13-year-old boy threatened another boy from his school with a knife, wanting his cell phone.
In the media fest about bullying, cases that gained huge interest within the media were discussed in a simplifying way - either by the public or the professionals (forming the opinion for the public). The experts invited to the cases often thought these were the consequences of some individual psychopathology; thus the circle of persons and connections examined was rather small, including the perpetrator, victim, family members and sometimes classmates of the perpetrator. Although individual psychopathology is always present to a certain extent, a systems approach was not part of handling the case for the most part - and is not part of the p