Students are sent to school to learn and to meet and make new friends. Unfortunately, others don’t achieve those things because of fear, insecurity, and even trauma because they’re being bullied. Bullying is comprised of direct behaviors such as teasing, taunting, threatening, hitting, and stealing that are initiated by one or more students against a victim. In addition to direct attacks, bullying may also be more indirect by causing a student to be socially isolated through intentional exclusion such as what we called “cyber bullying”.
There were a lot of cases already that had occurred not just here in the Philippines but all over the world which can be caused by bullying like suicide, riots and more. Various reports and studies have established that approximately 15% of students are either bullied regularly or are initiators of bullying behavior (Olweus, 1993). Direct bullying seems to increase through the elementary years, peak in the middle school/junior high school years, and decline during the high school years. However, while direct physical assault seems to decrease with age, verbal abuse appears to remain constant.
Because of rampant cases of bullying in school, parents and teachers should be more aggressive in monitoring their children and should remind them of the values they should possess and practice. Students who are victims of bullying are typically anxious, insecure, cautious, and suffer from low self-esteem, rarely defending themselves or retaliating when confronted by students who bully them.
Bullying needs to be addressed swiftly. The consequences should include recommendation for counseling for the bullies. Many bullies have themselves faced terrible difficulties of their own. Some of these difficulties may be abuses whether physical or verbal, violent episodes at home, chaotic lifestyles, and other disturbing experiences. As a result of these factors, these individuals displace their pain on others.
Victims must be encouraged to report the acts and actions of bullies. School leaders and/or leaders in other settings that support youths should be vigilant in sending a clear message to bullies that bullying is not tolerated in their setting. They must also send a clear message to victims that failure to report a single act of bullying will ultimately give bullies the notion that it is okay to continue to bully.
Bullying is not just a simple problem. If taken for granted, it can destroy the future of our children and their generation in general. Let us teach them to love their fellowmen and in this way, bullying will be avoided and peace can be achieved.