Protecting children from school bullying: easy or difficult?

The story of friendship was incorporated into the lesson "Caring, Empathizing, and Sharing" during a 7th-grade civics class at Colette Secondary School, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: TTANH

Just the issue of students bullying each other is something I think is difficult to address, especially since those involved often remain silent. This happens everywhere. It's impossible to compile statistics on all the different types of student bullying.

Incidents of students fighting or intentionally inflicting physical harm on others may be reported with evidence and witnesses. However, psychological abuse and other forms of bullying continue to occur silently in schools and classrooms.

One or two problematic students in a class can cause a lot of trouble or bully many other students at school.

There are two students with the same name in the class; one tends to want to be the "leader" of a group that might be aggressive, harass, threaten, and challenge students who seem weaker than themselves. A girl who happens to be with a boy at school might also be threatened with violence by another girl.

A lazy student might come up with many tricks to intimidate his more academically inclined classmates into doing his homework for him. This might even include threats and coercion to force them to buy food, drinks, or other items.

Incidents like these have become commonplace in middle schools. Many types of bullying target appearance, clothing, and, more commonly, bullying of students from disadvantaged backgrounds or those with passive, shy personalities.

Arranged fights are easier to detect and prevent than subtle forms of intimidation, where fearful "victims" choose to endure in silence. Many other students know about the bullying but don't speak up because they feel it doesn't concern them or don't know who to talk to.

How can we detect the early signs of bullying, and how can students who are bullied overcome their fear?

Preventing violence is not solely the responsibility of schools or school campuses. However, solutions to mitigate it begin at the school level. Teachers' responsibility lies in creating the healthiest possible school environment, preventing all forms of physical and psychological violence, rather than simply dealing with incidents after they have occurred.

Parents also need to know more about their children in order to help them overcome difficulties or to guide them when their child is the bully.

But most importantly, it's the students' awareness and skills that are crucial. It's not an exaggeration to say that children need to be taught how to "escape" bullying from kindergarten age. Then, in elementary and secondary school, each age group requires different methods and knowledge, but all need to understand that bullying others is wrong.

To avoid being bullied, you need to make an effort to study harder, be healthier, and be more confident. Getting along with friends is also a way to overcome fear (if any) and become more assertive, knowing what to do if you are threatened.

The most important thing is knowing who to report violence to, whether it's about yourself or someone else. Many parents still tell their children to avoid trouble that doesn't concern them. Most students, when they know "something is about to happen," that someone might be beaten or bullied, choose to remain silent, not reporting it to teachers and even more so to their parents.

Speak up to defend yourself and your friends.

Knowing how to recognize wrongdoing, how to handle it appropriately, and who to report violence or bullying around them are skills and qualities that students need to be taught more thoroughly.

Life skills lessons in schools need to incorporate more practical learning scenarios based on real-life situations in the classroom. Schools will find it easier to reduce violence and bullying when more students are brave enough to speak up about it, protect themselves, and protect their friends.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bao-ve-tre-truoc-bat-nat-hoc-duong-de-hay-kho-20241001223446626.htm