ABSTRACT
Children’s cruelty during latency expands and occupies the entire space of their psychic existence. The cruel phenomena range from rare severe social rejection, such as bullying, isolation, humiliation, and shaming, to the widespread experiences of mild social rejection that all children this age encounter. Cruelty is apparent in every moment of the children’s everyday life. Thus, all the children in the class are involved in and harmed by exposure to cruel experiences, even if just passively. At this age, an unequal social perception of a social hierarchy exists. Some children are worth more, and others are worth less. During these years, children form their self-image and self-esteem on the basis of social status, with some children being popular and most being unpopular. Social rejection and lack of popularity have harmful implications both in the present and in the future.
