The burning issue of bullying

"Maa, I don't want to go to school, they will tease me and call me names… again!" 

Anayta, a seven-year-old girl, absolutely dreaded going to school. Every day, her peers bullied her, making fun of her introverted self while commenting on her appearance. Twelve years later, to this day, she still suffers from an inferiority complex, crippling anxiety, and body dysmorphia. Despite being very talented in both academics and extracurricular activities, she never feels she is good enough.

Bullying typically refers to deliberate actions or repeated behaviour that can be verbal, physical, psychological, or social, which cause a serious extent of intimidation or offence to someone else. Such actions undermine, humiliate, and cause both physical and emotional harm to the subjects. Young students especially tend to be extremely vulnerable to bullying, mainly because many of them are not entirely aware of the concept – that is, victims do not realise that they are being bullied, and bullies do not realise that they are causing harm.

In a report by Unesco published in October 2019, it was shown that 23 percent of school students in Bangladesh are victims of bullying. In another study conducted in June 2021, it was found that 44.4 percent of school students in Bangladesh suffered from bullying. These data give us an idea of the prevalence of bullying in our country and how it is becoming a pressing issue by the day. 

Existing data suggest that 44.4 percent of school students had experienced bullying victimisation. This is comparable to another study, according to a survey report by Unicef, which included a sample from 122 countries, where 35 percent of children aged between 13 and 15 years in Bangladesh said they experienced bullying at school.

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Many children start bullying others without the knowledge of the consequences, not realising that their actions may be hurtful, as the actions often leave them with a feeling of authority over others. On the other hand, many children suffer from external trauma within their personal lives and tend to normalise crude behaviour within themselves, exerting  their pent-up frustration on other children. Flipping the coin towards another perspective, many bullies have often been victims themselves.

Mostly, bullies go on to suffer negative impacts further down the line. Issues in relationships with friends and family, difficulty coping with varying work environments, anxiety disorders, and many more problems may arise as they transition into adulthood. The victims of bullying, on the other hand, grow up with serious mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, inferiority complex, eating disorders, and loneliness. Moreover, bullied children may also resort to becoming bullies themselves, keeping the cycle going. 

In a study conducted in 2014, it was found that bullied children experienced more negative impacts on physical health compared to others. Within a sample of seventh-grade students with the worst-decile physical health, 14.8 percent had been bullied in the past, 23.9 percent were being bullied in the present, and 30.2 percent were bullied in both the past and present.

As a little girl, Anayta's older sister Saira shared similar characteristics to that of seven-year-old Anayta. But she grew up with an amazing group of friends and peers around her and suffered no bullying whatsoever. As an adult, Saira has evolved to be a confident and self-affirmed individual. Her school had strict policies against bullying, which included awareness and action, leading to a friendly environment around the campus. 

The difference between Anayta and Saira serves as a practical example of how bullied and non-bullied children differ as grown-ups. Moreover, this also substantiates the institution's role in mitigating the prevalence of bullying through whatever steps are necessary. Educational institutions have been taking charge against bullying behaviour through various initiatives, ensuring a safe environment for all students. The schools' authorities could conduct group discussion sessions to create awareness among children. Moreover, the counselling department of the school could also take initiatives such as organising workshops, conducting one-on-one sessions, and assigning a monitor among the students who would proactively address uncalled-for situations and inform teachers of them. Schools could also install complaint boxes called through which students can write to the authorities about any incidents that made them feel uncomfortable. To deal with such situations, students might also adopt a few strategies, such as standing up for each other, facing the bully in a group, and uniting against the bully to tackle him/her. As part of the development measure, they should be trained in groups from an early age to deal with such behaviours in a group.

The issue of bullying has been around for a while, creating adverse impacts on young minds. With the proactive involvement of teachers and guardians and taking strong initiatives against bullying, we can nurture a generation full of happy children. 

Dr Shivananda CS is the principal of DPS STS School, Dhaka.