In the early years of my career as an educator in the mid 2000’s, there were very few cases of bullying at my school. However, as the years went by, I noticed that bullying cases were on the rise. The management did their best to deal with the bullying cases and would regularly talk about being kind and fair during morning assemblies.
When I set up an anti-bullying club at school and launched an anti-bullying sensitisation campaign, the school psychologist told me that all the students who came to see her did so as a result of having experienced bullying. I’m glad that the students who suffered in silence decided to reach out for professional help. As a teacher, there were some students who confided in me that they were experiencing or had experienced school bullying. I directed the bullied students to their Form teachers or the school psychologist. I remember one student telling me that she had suffered from bullying in her previous school. Unfortunately, the management was not effective in stopping the bullying. She was so stressed that she even lost her hair and had to change schools. I also remember this nice girl who was my student in her lower grades. I learned years later than she had gone through bullying in her upper 6 classes and that the bullying she endured had traumatised her to the point on being on the verge of committing suicide. This is heartbreaking and I believe that no one deserves to be bullied.
As a teacher it is so important to care for our students. Not just academically but letting these youngsters know that they can trust us enough to be their confidants. Bullied students should never suffer in silence. Unfortunately, I’ve known some coworkers whose mindset was that they only get paid for their academic work, not for caring about their students’ issues such as bullying.
The Défimedia group has reported that from 2019 to June 2022, around 100 bullying cases have been reported to the Ministry of Education. These are the official statistics, but many cases are unreported as victims suffer in silence. It is very important to break the silence. Students should always report their ordeal to a teacher, head of school or parents/friends. The best solution is not to let the bullying become worse. A bullying case should always be addressed quickly and swiftly.
Bullying is often trivialised since many don’t realise that it is an abuse of a child’s human rights and that it is illegal. Bullying a child is an unlawful act under Section 26 of the Children’s Act 2020. (Kindly read my article Bullying, Harassment and the Law to know more about the legal aspects of bullying).
I believe that school bullying can be addressed with the involvement of all the stakeholders of the educational system: students, parents, teaching and non-teaching staff, school management, educational governing bodies and the Ministry of Education. Everyone needs to take a stand against bullying as a united front against this scourge will benefit our society at large.
Bibliography
DéfiMedia. 28 juin 2022. “ « Bullying » : ce que risquent l’école et l’enfant auteur ”. https://defimedia.info/bullying-ce-que-risquent-lecole-et-lenfant-auteur
LEGAL SUPPLEMENT to the Government Gazette of Mauritius No. 156 of 19 December 2020. “THE CHILDREN’S ACT 2020 Act No. 13 of 2020”. https://mauritiusassembly.govmu.org/Documents/Acts/2020/act132020.pdf