7 out of 10 kids worried about bullying, says Lam Thye
KUALA LUMPUR: Nearly seven out of 10 children are worried about being bullied.
Stakeholders, including parents, teachers, psychologists and non-governmental organisations, need to find a holistic solution to address the issue said Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation senior vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.
He said a recent study showed that 54 per cent of children felt their views were not heard.
“This issue is very important in view of the fact that bullying and violent acts have lately resulted in death.”
Lee said the issue of mental health also needed to be viewed seriously as it was a driving factor behind bullying and violent acts.
Better mental health development programmes need to be introduced in schools and more counsellors with psychological skills must be placed in schools, he said.
“The National Health and Morbidity Survey in 2015 showed that about 4.2 million Malaysians aged 16 and above, or 29.2 per cent of the population, suffer from mental health problems.
“More worryingly, the mental disorder ratio has risen from one in 10 students in 2011 to one in five in 2016.
“Experts point out that stress and depression are major causes of mental health problems among students. ”
Based on the list of disciplinary violations involving students from the Education Ministry, Lee said up to last month, there were 1,054 reported cases.
Last year, 2,795 bullying cases were reported, a decrease of 18.93 per cent from 3,448 cases reported in 2016.
Despite the encouraging figure, Lee said the number was still high.