Trained teachers needed to deal with bullies, bullied in schools

A grade school boy would often come home late from school, prompting his parents to worry that their child may be involved in illegal drugs.

To their surprise, their boy was being bullied by his classmates and was helpless against the ordeal.

But such circumstances need not be hopeless, according to a University of the Philippines psychologist, if school officials know how to deal with the bullied and even the bully.

“There is a need to address bullying in schools on a nationwide scale,” said Dr. Violeta Villaroman-Bautista, adding that there should be programs to help both sides.

Such help can begin in the form of research of bullying in Philippine schools, where sometimes bullying by students is seen as harmless child’s play.

Bautista spoke at a recent forum in UP coinciding with the celebration of the World Suicide Prevention Day two weeks ago.

The psychologist noted a need for schools to train teachers on how to deal with the bully and the bullied when faced with such situations.

“No matter the variations in incidence rates, the fact that bullying happens is enough to raise the alarm for child protection because of the harmful effects of bullying behaviors not only to the bullied, but also to the bully and the bystanders,” she said.

Aside from more research on bullying in local schools, Bautista saw the need for programs to develop the students’ personal growth as well as the parents’.

“Parents also need to know how to respond if their children ask for help if they are being bullied,” she pointed out.

Common occurrence

In focus group discussions with 91 children from public and private schools, incidents of bullying were perceived to be a common occurrence which can be one on one bullying or even between groups.

Bautista said children were able to differentiate forms of bullying which may be harmless or harmful, say in physical ways.

One of the findings in the focus group discussion with children was that “girls can also physically bully a girl” as well.

Insecure

The participants saw bullies as being insecure of themselves.

“Bullies appear not to care about hurting other people’s feelings,” Bautista said, adding that children noted that bullies were often older, popular or belonged to big groups.

Some children were of the belief that students who engaged in bullying came from “troubled families” while the bullied were seen to be “weaker” and could not fight back.

And even if some bullies are able to get away with it, they are generally disliked by fellow students.

“They are called names, like heartless, hypocrites, etc,” Bautista said, noting some of the names raised in the discussion.