Boys more likely than girls to suffer from physical, verbal bullying: survey
SINGAPORE: A Singapore Children's Society survey on bullying in schools showed that more boys suffered from physical or some form of verbal bullying as compared to girls.
Malays were more often the subject of bullying as compared to Chinese.
Only about a third of those bullied sought help, which made the situation better.
Teachers and parents were the two most common sources of help.
The 600 young adults between the ages of 25 and 29 surveyed gave many suggestions on how bullying can be stopped.
Methods used to successfully avoid being bullied included avoiding and ignoring the bullies and seeking help.
The survey found no evidence that bullying led to premature school leaving.
However, those who had been bullied had, on average, lower self-esteem and well-being.
They were also found to be typically more depressed.
The survey aims to find out if there were long term effects of primary or secondary school bullying.
- CNA/jm
Y so many bullying case?
Some victims of childhood bullying still haven't recovered from trauma: survey
SINGAPORE: Some victims of childhood bullying do not grow out of their trauma, according to a recent survey.
It polled Singaporeans between 25 and 29 years old and found that most victims have a weaker sense of personal well-being, compared with those who had not been bullied.
As a child, you might have come across the resident school bully, who could have verbally or physically abused you or your peers.
These unpleasant encounters sometimes never go away.
Winston Ong, research officer, Singapore Children's Society, said: "Respondents who've been bullied before actually have lower self-esteem and lower levels of well-being. They're also more depressed as compared to those who have never been bullied."
The survey was a retrospective one involving 600 young adults who had studied in a primary or secondary school. One key finding showed that Malays were being more bullied than Chinese.
Of those interviewed, 61 per cent of Malays said they had been bullied, compared with 48 per cent of Chinese respondents.
Researchers said they don't have any information explaining why but they do not detect any trends.
One hot topic at this year's Bully-Free forum was cyber bullying and schools are taking a serious stance on social networking platforms and blogs.
Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State for Law & Home Affairs, said: "All reported cases are investigated. Schools have the autonomy to decide on the disciplinary measures to take against the offenders as appropriate. More importantly, however, tough disciplinary measures should be accompanied by proper education and counselling for the bullies and victims."
Fortunately, the victims surveyed said their situation improved most of the time when they sought help from schools, parents and peers.
- CNA/vm
Policies on bullying needed
JUST as schools have strict policies about plagiarism, they should have the same for bullying too.
That is what experts called for on Saturday at the Bully Free Forum 2010, an event organised as part of the Bully-Free programme, which aims to promote bully awareness.
Ms Tan Bee Joo, deputy director of the Singapore Children's Society's Student Service Hub, said that schools should adopt a policy that clearly defines what bullying is, and the schools' tolerance level towards it.
'Teachers also need to be equipped with specific skills to detect and manage bullying. And programmes, such as a Bully Free Week could be organised,' she added.
She cited Park View Primary School as an example. It is the first school in Singapore to embark on a school-based intervention programme in January last year.
Bullying has become a growing concern among educators here. A survey by the Singapore Children's Society in 2006 found one in five pupils was a bully victim in school.
-- ST