Establish ways to deal with school bullying
Feb 10, 2009
FROM THE EDITOR<br><br>Going to Senior One can be intimidating. It means enduring physical and verbal aggression of the seniors, or being excluded simply for being a newcomer.
FROM THE EDITOR
Going to Senior One can be intimidating. It means enduring physical and verbal aggression of the seniors, or being excluded simply for being a newcomer.
Bullying is not new. It is an age-old problem and until recently, many people took the “children will be children†attitude toward the problem. However, several school violence cases usually highlight the serious consequences of bullying behaviour.
Bullying is not isolated to the perpetrator. It often marks the beginning of an anti-social behaviour pattern as victims also elicit negative reactions, such as anger and revenge.
To prevent it, adult support is needed. Students and teachers should learn and put in place strategies to defuse minor disputes and to address intimidation and other intolerable behaviour before it escalates into bullying.
These strategies should be taught through safe-school programmes like conflict-resolution debates, moral values and character education for children.
Teachers also need training and mentoring programmes to be able to deal with the vice.
The education ministry should clearly pronounce itself on the penalties of bullying.
Research shows that when bullying problems decline at school, there is also a corresponding decrease in other vices, such as smoking and drug abuse, both in the school and the community.
Going to Senior One can be intimidating. It means enduring physical and verbal aggression of the seniors, or being excluded simply for being a newcomer.
Bullying is not new. It is an age-old problem and until recently, many people took the “children will be children†attitude toward the problem. However, several school violence cases usually highlight the serious consequences of bullying behaviour.
Bullying is not isolated to the perpetrator. It often marks the beginning of an anti-social behaviour pattern as victims also elicit negative reactions, such as anger and revenge.
To prevent it, adult support is needed. Students and teachers should learn and put in place strategies to defuse minor disputes and to address intimidation and other intolerable behaviour before it escalates into bullying.
These strategies should be taught through safe-school programmes like conflict-resolution debates, moral values and character education for children.
Teachers also need training and mentoring programmes to be able to deal with the vice.
The education ministry should clearly pronounce itself on the penalties of bullying.
Research shows that when bullying problems decline at school, there is also a corresponding decrease in other vices, such as smoking and drug abuse, both in the school and the community.