PETALING JAYA: The near 30% increase in bullying cases this year is a concerning figure that requires urgent intervention from not just parents but also schools, teachers and the Education Ministry, say educationists.
Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said it is appalling that bullying cases saw a significant rise of over 1,100 cases this year compared to last year.
She called on the ministry to invest more effort in instilling an interest in learning among students.
She also said there should be a more intensive attempt to diagnose students for autism, dyslexia, attention deficit disorder (ADD), or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), among others.
“This is to find a more targeted treatment for these disorders.
“Incidentally, half of the inmates in prisons are autistic and untreated,” said Noor Azimah.
Children’s rights advocate Dr James Nagayam said schools should treat bullies as students with mental health issues.
“Many teenagers from Forms One to Five go through some form of mental health issue like neglect, deprivation of family love, or parents who are going through a divorce.
“Some bullies are also victims of domestic violence,” he said.
According to Nagayam, the present ratio of one counsellor to 1,000 students isn’t adequate to address possible mental health issues involving students.
“One kid alone takes up a lot of time for one counsellor. Can you imagine one counsellor for 1,000 students? They clearly don’t have enough time for all students,” he added.
The ministry, he said, is too rigid in its approach to dealing with bullies and should seek a fresh way to deal with bullies by outsourcing counsellors to non-governmental organisations.
“They (NGOs) could work with the police, the Social Welfare Department, or even neighbourhood groups,” he said.
A former child commissioner with Suhakam (Human Rights Commission of Malaysia), Nagayam recalled the recognition given to a school in Temerloh, Pahang, for its anti-bullying efforts.
“In this school, parents took turns standing at the front gate of the school to check on bullying.
“There was a remarkable reduction in bullying cases in this school, and it received an award from Suhakam in 2014,” he said.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Centre of Education and Diversity senior lecturer Dr Anuar Ahmad, too, said bullies themselves are often victims of domestic abuse.“They would tend to replicate the act in schools and bully other children. Bullies see bullying as a form of escapism,” he said.
The educationist said the best approach to address bullying is to get schools and parents to establish good relations.
“Schools and parents should always be in communication. This is one of the best mechanisms to prevent bullying among students,” he said.
Anuar hopes that the latest figures on bullying will pressure stakeholders into taking prompt action on the menace so that it won’t be normalised.
Yesterday, Deputy Education Minister Lim Hui Ying told the Dewan Rakyat that as of last month, 4,994 reports of bullying instances had been received, representing an almost 30% rise from the 3,887 cases received last year.
She said the ministry has launched guidelines on managing misconduct, including bullying, in educational institutions.
She said schools are collaborating with the police through school liaison officers and anti-bullying programmes in schools.
The ministry has also set up a bullying complaints portal that allows students, parents and the public to file reports directly and discreetly with the authorities, she said.
Complaints could also be filed via the Public Complaints Management Systems (Sispaa), email, telephone and WhatsApp.
“In addition, the ministry provides counselling for children who have the tendency to commit misconduct against other children,” she said, adding that the ministry is also committed to increasing counsellors in schools.
Lim was responding to a question by Datuk Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik (PH-Balik Pulau), who asked the ministry about steps to curb rampant school bullying cases.
