BULLYING

EVANGELINE G. PANGAN

Teachers can take part to stop bullying in school. Both students and students should know first the meaning of bullying and its effect to others. Bullying is an act of unwanted and aggressive behavior towards other people which may involve a real or perceived power imbalance. Examples of bullying are making threats, attacking someone physically or verbally, spreading rumors or anything that may ruin a person’s image. This usually starts during the school age but can be applied to all ages.

In the Philippines, 2 out of 10 children per day experience being made fun of, name calling, and making the child do something he/ she doesn’t want to do. Since the statistics were quite alarming, this prompted the House of Representatives to approved a bill requiring elementary and secondary schools to include and implement antibullying policies in their students. To monitor its effectivity, the schools are obligated to submit and report incidents to the DepEd.

Teachers can give extra time to talk to problem students who tend to bully others. These students have soft spots and for sure there are reasons why they show unwanted behavior towards other people so if teachers give their extra attention maybe they will be aware that someone’s still concern to them. And through that situation they can give advice to lessen the aggressive behavior.

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The author is Head Teacher III/OIC at San Miguel-Meysulao High School