Mechanism best to help stop bullying in schools
Julita B. Amurao
TRADITIONAL forms of bullying in schools have decreased modestly over the last decade or so. This is very likely due to the increase in work to prevent bullying.
Bullying in schools has been recognized as a serious and pervasive problem now, though not in traditional bullying. Figures elsewhere are not dissimilar, although prevalence rates vary greatly in terms of how it is measured and how bullying is defined.
Bullying is usually defined as intent to harm another person repeatedly; with an imbalance of power, the victim cannot easily defend themselves. It can take the form of everything from physical and verbal attacks, to social exclusion, spreading rumours and cyberbullying. Internationally, there have been many school-based anti-bullying program.
Different structure to school classrooms to discourage bullying and reward more helpful behaviors. Virtual learning methods and enlists highstatus peers as defenders of those who are being bullied. These two methods have been successfully replicated but the extent to which this can be done elsewhere should become clearer in the next few years.
The philosophy has generally been not to adopt or impose a specific program to stop bullying, but rather to make a range of options and resources available for schools to choose the most appropriate. There are now many sources of support for children, parents and teachers, from organization to provide a good foundation for effective anti-bullying prevention and intervention, it is recommended that schools use an anti-bullying policy with clear definitions and procedures that are communicated to the whole school community.
Schools should have multiple avenues for reporting bullying that don’t stigmatize children, and a central recording system for incidents (particularly important as evidence). Staff also need ongoing training in intervention and regular auditing to measure the impact of anti-bullying work. To introduce proactive strategies that can help prevent bullying, schools need to think about the whole school environment, including the classroom and playground. Schools should promote adults as good role models, and provide an “open door” policy for parents or career.
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The author is Master Teacher I at Francisco G. Nepomuceno High
School, Division of Angeles City