SCHOOL BULLYING

By: Abdil Fadhil Ridho, S.E.

One of the problems in schools that attract public attention today is the case of
intimidation and suppression of students who are considered weaker than other, it is known
as bullying. The most common forms of bullying in school are verbal abuse, which can come
in the form of teasing, name calling, and verbal threat (Kristen E. Jacobsen & Sheri Bauman,
2007). At first glance, it looks normal, but if it is left continuously and not handled properly,
it will result in a bad impact for students, even for victims. In Indonesia, bullying cases in
schools often occur. Based on the results of a survey by the Ministry of Social Affairs
(Kemensos), there are 84 percent of children aged 12-17 years have been victims of bullying.
Meanwhile, throughout the year 2011-2017, the Indonesian Child Protection Commission
(KPAI) received complaints totaling 26 thousand bullying cases. Unwittingly, this fact shows
that bullying seems to have become part of today's teenage lifestyle.

Bullying Definition
Debates about how best to define bullying have been a perennial problem within the
field (Smith & Monks, 2008). Bullying is a situation which is characterized by intentional
verbal or physical abuse, made repetitively, by one or more students against one or more
peers (Fante, 2005). Bullying is defined as the feeling of a person (or a group of people) to be
the aim of a series of negative acts, performed with relatively high frequency (f.e. weekly)
and over a period of time (>6 month) (Einarsen, Hoel & Notelaers, 2009). From socio-culture
aspect, bullying involves repeated aggressive behavior directed towards someone with less
power, with the intention of causing them harm (Rachel & Sarah, 2017). Whilst the widely
agreed definition of bullying in the academic literature is that it involves repeated aggressive
behavior directed towards someone with less power, with the intention of causing them harm
(Rigby & Smith, 2011).

Bullying Effect
As educators in the school environment, teachers should be alert and do not
underestimate bullying among students. This is because bullying can have a negative effect
on bully victims. As the results of a study by Oliveira et al (2017) of the Federal University
of Pernambuco, Brazil, which is researched among students of the 6th grade of public schools
in the city of Recife, bullying has a negative impact on performance in mathematics.
Being victimised at school is associated with poor self-esteem and other psycho-social
problems. However when researching such relationships it is sometimes difficult to be clear
about whether bullying causes these problems, or whether these issues already exist to some
degree and attract the attention of bullies.
It may be that there is an effect both ways: vulnerable students are more likely to be
bullied, and this in turn increases their negative feelings and affects how they interact with
others. Most studies show that there is at least an association, but more recent longitudinal
studies go further, supporting the idea that bullying may independently cause health and
psycho-social problems.
Being bullied repeatedly at school, or when travelling to or from school, is associated
with a higher level of absenteeism and truancy. This is likely to be because students feel
unsafe and unhappy at school. There is also some evidence that the impact of bullying may
persist beyond the school years, resulting in adults who are lonelier and have more
relationship difficulties than their peers.
Repeated bullying is associated with feelings of anxiety and depression, anger and
irritability, self-pity and withdrawal from others. Some studies have also shown that
frequently victimized students are more likely to have thoughts of suicide. Repeated bullying
may also lead to general ill health, being associated with a higher level of colds, mouth sores,
headaches, stomach aches, etc.

Role of Teachers in Reducing School Violence

Teachers play a critical role in the success of school-based, anti-violence

interventions. Findings from this study suggest that while most pre-service teachers
acknowledge school bullying as an issue of importance, they differ in their perceptions of the
seriousness of physical, relational, homophobic, and cyber bullying. The willingness of these
teacher candidates to intervene is based on their perceptions of the relative gravity and impact
of the less overt forms of bullying. The results of Craig, Bell and Leschied (2017) study also
indicate that many pre-service teachers would welcome more training in violence prevention
in their Bachelor of Education program.

Finally, it is imperative to recognize that violence thrives in a climate of silence.

Given that children spend a considerable portion of each day in academic settings, there is
impetus to develop and implement anti-violence curricula to foster a safe and healthy climate
and culture in schools (Wolfe, Crooks, Chiodo, & Jaffe, 2010). The current study has
highlighted the crucial role of teachers in this regard and recommends that pre-service teacher
training in violence prevention be deemed a priority.
 References

Katrina Craig, David Bell, and Alan Leschied. Pre-service Teachers’ Knowledge and
Attitudes Regarding School-Based Bullying. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION 34, 2 (2011):
21-33

Bullying and Mental Health. © Commonwealth of Australia 2005. Copyright Law

Branch, Attorney General's Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, Barton
ACT 2600 or posted at www.ag.gov.au/cca.

Kristen E. Jacobsen and Sheri Bauman. Bullying in School: School Counselor’s

Responses to Three Types of Bullying Incidents. Professional School Counseling, Vol. 11,
No. 1 (OCTOBER 2007), pp. 1-9. American School Counselor Association.

Felipe Resende Oliveira, Tatiane Almeida de Menezes, Guilherme Irffi, and

Guilherme Resende Oliveira. Bullying Effect On Student’s Performance. ECON-126; No. of
Pages 17, Science Direct

Rachel E. Maunder, and Sarah Crafter. School Bullying From A Sociocultural

Perspective. Aggression and Violent Behavior 38 (2018) 13–20, Science Direct.