By Analou De Vera
Parents and school authorities should look into the causes on what triggers a child to misbehave, particularly bullying, a child's rights group said.
“We need to understand that a child might bully another due to difficulties in managing anger, aggression, non-tolerance for individual differences, experiences of violence at home, or the lack of good role models at home,” said Wilma Banaga, children protection advisor, Program Development Quality of Save the Children Philippines.
Banaga said that it is important for adults to demonstrate good behavior to children and implement a positive discipline as “it can help prevent bullying from happening.”
“Parents need to find the time to build a loving relationship with their children, and provide them the necessary guidance for them to grow up to be caring and non-violent individuals, and not children who accept that it is all right to hurt others,” said Banaga.
Recently, a video of a bullying incident showing junior high students from Ateneo de Manila University went viral on social media.
Banaga also called for the protection of the privacy of those involved in the incident. She said sharing the video and calling for harsh punishment are also act of cyber-bullying.
“Save the Children Philippines believes that bullying should be taken seriously and immediately addressed by the school or community, and by the families of the children who are involved in this,” said Banaga.
Banaga, meanwhile, urges schools handling bullying cases to follow due process.
“Although schools can impose suspensions or expulsions if circumstances warrant it, we hope that this will be the last resort as such disciplinary measures have been found to increase the risk of children experience negative outcomes later in life, and do little to deter a student from misbehaving.”