Stop Bully Now

Thuggist students in a secondary school in northern Taiwan were making death threats against the teachers. When a teacher stepped in to try to stop a fight between two parties, the male student railed at him, saying “I will bring a gun to kill all of you!”

The teachers accused the principal of doing nothing to safeguard their safety as well as that of innocent students against roguish students who had threatened to kill them with guns. When the gun threats were brought to the attention of the police, they were indifferent. It cause the teachers to suspect there was collusion to cover up the case to protect the reputation of the school principal.

64 teachers petition and as a result the principal was sacked.
The moral of the story: Do not allow the thugs to overrun the school. Together you can do something even if the principal and the police are not helpful.

When I read this news today, I cannot believe it is happening in a modern country where educationalists are supposed to have the brains to discern what is right and wrong when it comes to dealing with bullies.

After reading this story, I was wrong to assume that school authorities know how to deal with bullying problems.

Alexander wrote to the newspaper. He is the parent of a son who was bullied and beaten by a few student. He reported the matter to his school principal and the police. The school authorities told the police they would handle the matter and so the police dropped their investigation.

The school did handle the matter – by caning both the bully and his son, the latter for retaliating by pushing the bully back when he was attacked.

The whole incident sent a clear message: Do not bring up such an issue.

Readers, don’t you think what the school did was outrageous?

According to a survey in Singapore, those who are bullied are more prone to depression and have poorer self esteem than those who were not bullied. This goes to show that bullying has long term effect. It is damaging and not to be taken lightly.

Bullying has become a growing concern among educators in Singapore. A survey by the Singapore Children’s Society in 2006 found one in five pupils was a bully victim in school.

How far have we progress as a nation in terms of tackling bullying in school? Do schools have strict policies for bullying? Are teachers train to detect and manage school bullying?

The interview with Ms Tan Bee Joo, deputy director of the Singapore Children’s Society’s Student Service Hub in Straits Times dated 17th July 2010 is telling.

She said that schools should adopt a policy that clearly defines what bullying is, and the schools’ tolerance level towards it.

‘Teachers also need to be equipped with specific skills to detect and manage bullying. And programmes, such as a Bully Free Week could be organised,’ she added.

She cited Park View Primary School as an example. It is the first school in Singapore to embark on a school-based intervention programme in January last year.

Are there any other schools beside Park View Primary School?