Pedagogical aspects of aggression in primary school

The aggressive behavior of primary school age children is an important topic since such behavior is on the rise, and therefore has become the subject of interest and research of numerous experts.These studies have resulted in several theories, which present certain understandings and interpretations of the aggression phenomenon.The most frequently mentioned theories are: instinct theory;the theory that believes that aggression is the reaction to a particular situation; social learning theory; cognitive theory and, ultimately, biological theory.The aggressive behavior of students causes damage to others, but also to themselves, with thefar-reaching consequences to their development.Aggression is a phenomenon that manifests itself in a student's inclination to verbally or physically inflict harm on others, and appears as a reaction when a goal response suffers interference.It is a universal phenomenon, both by its presence everywhere and by its duration, because it has existedduring the entire human history. The important determinants of aggressive behaviorare: aggressive impulse, aggressive motive and aggressive feeling.Aggressive impulse is a natural reaction to being in danger and to being attacked by someone.Aggressive motive is an impetus to behavior where the aggressive act itself brings pleasure.Aggressive feeling arises from the fear of loss of security, it is not always manifested openly, and it is often not accompanied with aggressive actions.The causes of aggression are very complex, and the most frequently mentioned ones are family influence, school failure, age and gender differences, personality traits, and broader social circumstances. Measures to prevent aggressive behavior of students include intervention (reaction) and prevention measures.Intervention (reaction) measures imply that each school has to formulate an intervention (reaction) plan in the event of violence, while preventive measures imply a number of activities such as creating a safe environment for children, enclosing the school yard, rearranging the school premises to allow for better supervision of students, making the school nicer and cleaner, setting up video surveillance and employing professional security. Prevention measures also include certain programs that focus on reducing aggressive behavior of students (School without violence:towards a safe and enabling environment for children; Children and Police;School Officer; Firefighter in School; Cheer for fair play; Road and traffic safety for children, etc.). Peer mediation in primary schools is becoming more and more important in solving this problem.The goal of the Peer Mediation Project relates to the procedures that, with the least risk, encourage students to actively and creatively engage in creating a pleasant atmosphere at school. The goal of this paper is to understand the phenomenon of aggression in primary school, the theories that explain it more precisely, its causes and preventive measures, with special attention being paid to peer mediation.