Even in the liberal climate of the Netherlands, race and ethnicity have a strong impact on children. It is one of the major causes of bullying in schools in the Netherlands. The children who are not Dutch and went to school in the Netherlands are teased because of their race. Children belonging to ethnic minorities are more often victims because they have to deal with harsh name-calling and social-segregation, which the Dutch children do not usually have to face. Native Dutch children are the least likely to have these social problems and the Turkish children are teased the most, followed by the Moroccan and Surinamese children.

Overall minority children in Netherlands have it harder than Dutch children. These children sometimes received a lower quality of education and had a much higher dropout rate than those of majority groups. Minority children do not go on to secondary education as often as the Dutch children. Research shows that the amount of knowledge of Dutch culture and language is a determining factor in how successful the child will become in the future. Children who did not know a lot about the Dutch culture are not as successful as some of the other children who know more.

Children who attend school in the Netherlands come from very different racial backgrounds. As a result of this, bullying has been a growing social problem among children. Not all children in the Netherlands have to face discrimination in school but this problem in still in existence. There are 3 main factors that cause the bullying problems in schools. These 3 factors are Parents, Age & Gender and Social Class.

Some parents do not appear to have a big interest in what their children are doing and children are having a lot more free time without any adult watching over them. Parents often do not know where their children are or with whom they are playing with. The interactions and relationships between the child and the parents are the primary determinants of child development. Before the adults send their children off to school, they will teach their children the important things that they need to know to be successful in school and in life. Parents want to increase their child's knowledge and skills at home before they are thrown into an environment with other children. The way that children are raised at home will have the biggest impact on how they will act with and around other children when they are moved into a place with a lot of children such as school. Children in the Netherlands who act as bullies are a reflection of neglectful parents or parents who use harsh, physical punishment methods.

While there are a handful of children who cause problems in school, not all children in the Netherlands are like that. Bullying seems to be a more common trend among younger children and not as big of an issue with the older children. The bullies in the Netherlands are boys more often than girls. In general, they were boys with aggressive personalities who just wanted to be the center of attention. They would rather have negative attention over no attention at all. Boys who are bullies are usually strong, confident and have a positive attitude towards violence. Girls are generally weaker and less violent. They are the ones who are more likely to be pushed around and to be the ones who are doing the actual bullying.

Social class is going to have an impact on how children act towards each other and among their peers. Children who come from low-income families will generally have more problems than a child who comes from a high-income family. The social ladder is commonly seen amongst children. The children who are the victims of bullies usually lack confidence and have a lower position in the social hierarchy.

Junger-Tas, J. 1999. The Nature of School Bullying: A cross-national perspective. Pp. 205-233 in The Netherlands, Chapter 13. London: Routledge.

Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. 1996. Integrating Services for Children at Risk: Denmark, France, Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom (England and Wales). Pp. 37-47 in Netherlands, Chapter 3. Paris: Head of Publications Service, OECD.

Verkuyten, Maykel; Thijs, Jochem. March 2002. "Racist Victimization Among Children in the Netherlands: The Effect of Ethnic Group and School." Ethnic and Racial Studies Volume 25, 310-331.