INSTANCES of bullying in schools are isolated and have not reached an alarming level, the Malaysia Chinese Schools Headmasters Association said.

Its vice-president, Chew Eng Hock, said incidents of bullying in schools continue to take place because of a lack tolerance between students.

“What we would consider as joking between friends in the past, some people may now call it bullying,” Chew said.

“We also have to look at the relationship between students. For example, between two students are friends; when one pushes the other, they may regard it a joke. But what if the one who was pushed was in a bad mood that day?

“One could say the other student was bullying him or her. Then the relationship between the two deteriorates,” he said.

Chew also said there were sporadic cases of bullying in primary schools.

He was responding to Deputy Education Minister Lim Hui Ying who told the Dewan Rakyat on November 1 that the ministry had plans to increase the number of guidance and counselling teachers if cases of bullying in schools continue to persist and show a rising trend.

She said bullies must be given proper guidance and counselling to make them understand what they were doing was wrong.

Lim also said based on the Education Minister’s “Sistem Sahsiah Diri Murid” data, bullying incidents in schools had shown an increase with 4,994 cases recorded as of October 2023, compared to 3,887 last year.

Chew said Chinese-medium schools have already been advocating anti-bullying measures and disseminating information to children to prevent such incidents.

“We want students to know that when they feel bullied, they should speak to someone they trust, such as parents and teachers.

“If they are afraid to speak up, then they can inform the teachers through their friends.

“They should also report students who are bullying others,” he said.

Chew said the group’s aim was to create awareness on bullying and what actions can be taken to curb this problem.

He added that the schools also often hold talks on bullying or conduct anti-bullying campaigns for students to participate in.

“In addition to activities, teachers also play a very important role. If a bullying incident happens, the teacher can also bring it up in class and share it with the students,” Chew added. – November 12, 2023.