MP urges action against bullying
THREE out of every 10 children in the TRNC experience peer-on-peer abuse, an MP said in a speech to Parliament.
National Unity Party (UBP) Girne MP Hasan Küçük highlighted the problem recently during a speech on “Values Education and Its Role in Addressing Social Issues”.
Küçük stressed the importance of not attributing individual or collective mistakes to political parties or national politics.
He called for a discourse-driven approach to finding solutions to social issues, highlighting the escalating problem of “peer bullying” and the failure to successfully implement “values education”, leading to a rise in social problems.
Addressing the issue of peer bullying during and after school hours, Küçük stressed the need for collective action, stating that “this is not just the problem of one ministry alone”.
Citing research from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Küçük revealed alarming statistics, indicating that three out of every 10 children in OECD countries experience peer bullying across four different measures, adding
that the situation is the same in the TRNC.
He underscored the urgent need for interventions, citing examples of countries that have implemented values education programmes to tackle similar issues.
Küçük highlighted the disturbing trend of increased undesirable behaviours, violence and aggression in schools, particularly noting the correlation between the rise of cyber bullying and the pandemic-induced surge in peer bullying.
Advocating for proactive measures, Küçük called for meticulously planned education policies and urgent regulations to address the digital media’s role in exacerbating peer bullying and the potentially heightened danger it poses due to children’s susceptibility to its influence.
He stressed the need to enhance students’ digital literacy to mitigate the adverse effects of peer bullying, citing scientific evidence linking it to increased likelihood of future criminality and various psychological issues among both victims and perpetrators.
Küçük’s comments came after a girl at a secondary school in the TRNC was tricked into going to a secluded location by a group of girls after school, where she was then assaulted and mocked.
The incident was filmed on a mobile phone and then shared on social media.
The school in question and the National Education Ministry said it had launched an investigation into the matter, while the victim was taken under the care of the Social Services Department.