School Bullying

Jan Paul V. Dungo

Bullying is the use of force to intimidate someone through physical, emotional and verbal bullying. Physical bullying involves physical contact between the bully and the victim. A good example of this is hazing. emotional bullying causes damage to the victim’s psyche and emotional well-being. Verbal bullying are slanderous statements which cause undue emotional distress. These types of bullying can happen to anyone, anywhere and anytime. Bullying can be cause by a single person or a group of people. It is brought about by many factors ranging from a feeling of contempt towards a certain person due to physical attributes, financial status or social class. When a child is being bullied, that child will exhibit signs such as self-inflicting injuries, declining grades, absences in school, change in eating habits, not interested in going to school and injuries that can’t be explained. These signs should be noticed at home and school by parents and teachers.

It should be reported at school so that a course of action can be done. Counseling can be given to both parties involved. Why do students bully other students? Students who bullies are those that are insecure and lacks confidence. They usually come from homes where physical punishment is used by the parents. Bully’s likes attention and the power that makes them in control of the situation. They gain satisfaction in inflicting harm to others. Bullies also like to impress other students to gain popularity. They usually pick on people who are weak and not popular because these students can’t stand up for themselves. How do we help students who are bullied? Parents and teachers needs to teach the right social skills, build the student’s self-esteem, encouraged students to report bullying, show healthy relationship, promote inclusive classrooms, manage interactions between students and intervene early for possible bullying.

The author is Teacher

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II at San Vicente Elementary School, Apalit, Pampanga