Stamping out bullying

It has unfortunately become all too common to hear stories of abuse. Sadly for the victims, this abuse constitutes an unwanted part of their daily lives.

Abuse may take many forms, be it in the manner of domestic violence, sexual or verbal harassment at the workplace or peer pressures in the school. The most severe cases of abuse are usually the ones that gain the media’s and, in turn, our attention. It seems, however, that not so much attention seems to be given to one particular form of abuse: bullying!

For a long time bullying was commonly associated with children and schools. Unfortunately, some people tend to consider bullying among children as a given and a passing phase that fritters away as children develop and grow up. Research into the phenomenon of bullying is constantly revealing the damaging and, sometimes, lasting effects not only on the victims of bullying but also on its perpetrators.

Bullying can manifest itself in many ways. Some approaches may be subtle while others not. Some can be incorrectly considered as “mild” and are usually emotional or verbal forms of bullying. It can appear as coercion and intimidation either by the bully or those that collaborate with him. Bullying seems to reach its limit when the culprit resorts to physical forms of abuse and intentionally inflicts suffering and discomfort on his victim.

Studies have indicated that the reasons behind such behaviour are complex and manifold. However, it is undeniable that this behaviour is completely unacceptable. At any rate, all forms of bullying can and do leave a lasting effect on the victim of this offence.

Many consider bullying as an area that requires much more intensive research. It sadly makes it to the headlines only when its effects reach breaking point. The Columbine High School massacre and other murderous rampages committed in American and European schools over the last 12 years have been linked to some form or other of bullying. I have to mention here the sad story of little James Bulger, the three-year-old who was tortured and killed in the UK by none other than child murderers.

The perpetrators of these crimes were all very young people who had suffered bullying, isolating themselves and resorting to unspeakable behaviour and violent deaths. Of course, these are rare and exceptional cases but they demonstrate the extent of damage bullying may leave on an individual.

Maltese schools have never suffered such extreme forms of disaffection. The country’s size, absence of any regional divide, the shape of the Maltese family and its support network probably preclude extreme forms of this behaviour. Yet, recent studies have proven Maltese children are far from immune from bullying in their school or social environment. A study carried out by the British Council’s Inclusion And Diversity In Education addressed the particular issue of bullying examining student behaviour, the student’s personal experience of attending school and the effects of first generation migrants against non-migrant school pupils. Maltese schools participated in this study (Pembroke girls’ secondary and Gżira boys’ secondary) conducted among 50 schools across Europe.

The survey revealed a very high preoccupation among Maltese children when it came to bullying: 62 per cent of Maltese children consider bullying a problem. There was a wide disparity between Maltese children and Spanish children. Only 15 per cent of the latter considered bullying a problem. Evidently, in most countries, physical appearance, skin colour and a different cultural background were catalysts for the presence of bullying. Maltese schools were singled out as quite prepared for acknowledging cultural diversity, offering language lessons in English to non-Maltese-speaking migrant students and using drama as a form of ethnic integration.

An earlier study conducted by the council in 2008, when Malta did not participate, revealed other interesting facts. UK schools were worst in Europe for bullying and that across the board 50 per cent of first generation migrants suffered some form of bullying in the school due to appearance, language and religion. Consistently, Spanish children were the least worried about bullying in their schools.

Evidently, bullying remains a strong preoccupation among children and teachers. But how does one break this vicious cycle? Campaigns as the one that recently came to Malta – Violence-Free Learning – aims to raise awareness about bullying and seeks to inform children about the ill effects of bullying. Raising awareness empowers children to resist falling victims of dominating peers that would erode the power of the bully. Furthermore, it attempts to embolden the generally “silent” bystanders who tend to remain unmoved when encountering such behaviour for fear of being singled out or turning attention on themselves.

Bullying remains a complex form of behaviour, which is not easily eradicated. It will take the added effort not only of teachers and social workers to combat this. Parents too have a significant role to play in continuing to raise awareness among their children to not only resist any form of such behaviour but, ultimately, to refuse to be victimised and learning to stand up to the bullies wherever that may be.

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