Bullying policy.

05:35 Aug 30, 2017 

Hi Mr. Marcelo and Miss Rose, Thank you so much for your help.

01:29 Aug 30, 2017 

When I first translated bullying for our school district, I used hostigamiento. Later I saw that several other translators used acoso but, as Phoenix said, I was concerned about the sexual tones and I wanted to avoid that, except for where explicitly denoted in the text. I found the word matón for bully but our coordinator, from Colombia, did not like that word so we can't use it. I also am not sure that it wouldn't give the readers/hearers a hint of killer, too, since it's similar to matar. After hearing several parents use the word "bullying" and not the Spanish word, I decided the best way to do it is to use the English word (because it has been made into a technical word) and then translation in Spanish, usually acoso. I usually don't say acoso escolar for the same reasons already mentioned here. Sometimes I use intimidación or intimidación con amenazas, depending on the context. Our school district is as described by Phoenix, by the way.

22:46 Aug 29, 2017 

...avoiding any confusion between harassment and bullying (as you've pointed out) may indeed be an issue, as different forms of inappropriate behavior are often spelled-out in this context.

21:52 Aug 29, 2017 

As for Phoenix's comment, I'd say that even though the asker has mentioned 'Latin American Spanish,' in all likelihood the translation is for the US (Hispanic population), where 'bullying' (in Spanish) is frequently used in this context.

21:37 Aug 29, 2017 

What you say may be right if we happen to address bullying in the US where there is a huge Hispanic population from many different backgrounds and Spanish speaking countries and where the population is further fragmented into groups based on gender, religion, etc. However, the asker is strictly requesting Spanish from Latin America and there, this is not the case. It is simply what it is: Matoneo which is what I read all the time and furthermore, I would not use acoso escolar so broadly because as the term implies, is for school cases only and it even hints to a subtle sexual harassment. Matoneo is bullying that can happen in and out of school and it is so understood and referred to anywhere in LATAM.

21:27 Aug 29, 2017 

Since bullying is such a big deal these days in schools and a lot of Spanish-speaking families use the word "bullying," I have found it necessary (at least sometimes) to keep the English word in italics and then the translation afterwards: bullying (acoso, or acoso escolar--depending on context). Another reason is that schools have a separate definition for harrassment (hostigamiento) against protected groups according to the law, such as national origin, color, religion, gender, etc.