News

The cases of bullying at ITE College Central that surfaced recently are not the first ( , Aug 3). In March 2021, the main aggressor involved in a bullying incident at ITE College Central was expelled, while the other students who were involved were counselled and required to perform community service.  Besides the disciplinary action meted out, what is more important is the long-term impact on the victims and those who witness the bullying. Bullying can be traumatic for everyone involved, particularly if they are teenagers. They may suffer physical and mental health consequences that can persist well into adulthood. There often isn’t a simple, straightforward reason why someone engages in bullying. A teenager may have been bullied himself or been rejected by a peer. He may be under a lot of academic pressure, or may be enacting something he has seen at home, in the neighbourhood, on television, or in a video game. The bullied teen might experience depression, anxiety, or rage. His academic performance may suffer because it can be hard to focus in school when all you can think about is how to avoid being hurt again. Teens who witness the violence may feel guilty about seeing it and being too afraid to stop it. They may also feel threatened, and may feel the same way as the person who was bullied. Additionally, when children experience or witness bullying, their basic beliefs about life and other people are often changed. They no longer believe that the world is safe, which can be damaging to their mental health. Learning to cope with threats is an advanced lesson that has to be built on a foundation of feeling safe and self-confident. There is also an impact on parents. Parents react to bullying in all kinds of ways. Some parents encourage their children to get back at the bully or bully others, believing that violence is strength.  Some try to teach their children how to act in a way that won’t attract bullying or other violence, but that doesn’t work and may instead lead to the child blaming himself for being bullied.