Will schools ever be able to put an end to bullying among students?
Although some initiatives by Malaysia’s Ministry of Education have managed to reduce cases of physical and verbal bullying in schools in recent years, cyberbullying persists as a worrying problem for educators.
The country’s National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) has demanded that cyberbullying be addressed before it gets worse.
CyberSecurity Malaysia revealed that 2016 saw 338 recorded cases of cyberbullying among students.
“Currently, we have sufficient rules to curb (physical) bullying activities,” said Ng Weng Tutt, NUTP’s Penang branch chairman. “However, the Education Ministry should consider (rules for) cyberbullying as well. With the right measures, the problem can be stopped at the school-going stage.”
Ng said that students today are constantly online and very active on social media, leaving them susceptible to cyber bullying – both as victim and bully.
This assertion is paralleled by Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation senior vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, who had previously said that social media makes it easier for youths to get involved in bad behaviour, including cyberbullying and later, physical bullying.
According to the New Straits Times, Ng said the ministry should review the framework on eradicating bullying activities and proposed that the matter could be handled at the school-level as well.
“Maybe students could report cyberbullying incidents to their teachers, just like when they are physically bullied, regardless of whether they occur at school or elsewhere,” he said.
Last year, the NUTP suggested that special training on handling bullying cases should be given to teachers who looked after student affairs. Principals, their assistants, counsellors and discipline teachers were mentioned specifically.
The union’s secretary-general had identified those roles as it may not be “feasible” to train all teachers who are engaged in day-to-day classes, extracurricular activities and administrative work.
However, he stated that the education system’s training and standard operating procedures (SOP) on handling bullying cases as well as meting out punishment needed to be reviewed with the aid of a lawyer.
Tan had called for legal immunity for teachers who meted out punishment according to SOPs and training guidelines – something he finds critical to protect teachers from being attacked by over-protective parents.
Teachers should also be trained in reporting incidents and investigating them, he said.
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