In recent months, school bullying has hit the headlines of our nation in astounding frequency and severity. The brutal assault on teenager, T Nhaveen, leaving him brain dead should not be treated as an ad-hoc incident.
Two of the bullies have been reported to be the former school mates of the teenager and alleged to have bullied the teenager in school before. I would like to believe that the brutal assault on Nhaveen could have been prevented if action had been taken earlier.
I call upon the Home Ministry and the Education Ministry to ensure that every complaint and/or police report related to bullying is investigated. Action must be taken and stern warning must be given to aggressors of bully incidents.
Schools play a critical role in stopping bullying. I urge the school authorities to:
- report and investigate thoroughly every bully incident that comes to their attention and not sweep them under the carpet with the fear that it may affect school rating, nor opt the easy way out of transferring victims/culprits to another school;
- Roll out and enforce zero-tolerance programs making it clear that bullying in any form will not be tolerated; and
- Deploy sufficient resources to equip our schools and teachers with necessary tools, skills and counselling facilities to deal with the rising number of bully incidents.
We should never employ lack of budget or expertise excuses when it comes to education of the young. Every Parent-Teacher Association or PIBGs should now have regular meeting with the school pressing for a transparent account of complaints lodged by students/parents. When our children go to school, the basic expectation would be for them to return home alive. It is high time for us as a nation to place the safety and wellbeing of our next generation as our top priority.