An Overview Of Republic Act No.

10627 Anti-Bullying Act

With the pervasiveness of bullying at schools, more and more parents are concerned about their
children’s safety since teachers are not always present to keep an eye on students. Children are
not safe from harm against bullies especially when they are outside of the school’s premise. The
growing number of bullying cases is already a cause for alarm. The Republic Act No. 10627 or
also known as the Anti Bullying Act of 2013 addresses this concern among parents, teachers and
even students who are considered victims of bullying. The anti-bullying act ensures that these
cases will no longer fall on deaf ears. 
What is bullying?
Bullying refers to any repeated or severe use by one or more students of a verbal, electronic or
written expression, or a physical gesture or act that can bring physical or emotional harm to the
victim. Bullying is also perceived as creating an unfriendly environment for the other student
that can cause disruption in the education process. 
The following is considered acts of bullying: 
a. Any unwanted physical contact between the victim and the bully such as pushing, shoving
punching, tickling, headlocks, slapping, teasing, fighting, inflicting school pranks and the use of
available objects or weapons;
b. Any act that can create damage to a victim’s emotional well-being;
c. Any accusation that can make the victim emotionally distressed such as profanity, foul
language, negative comments or derogatory remarks on the victim’s appearance, body and
clothes; and 
d. Cyber-bullying or any type of bullying that is initiated with the use of technology or any
electronic means. 
Procedures and strategies for bullying:
• Report acts of bullying;
• Respond in a timely manner and investigate reports of bullying;
• Ensure victim’s safety and assess if they need additional protection;
• Provide counseling and other necessary services for the victims, perpetrators and family
members.
• Allow students to anonymously report bullying provided, that no disciplinary administrative
action will be taken against the reported student based       solely on the anonymous report;
• Provide sanction to a student who makes false accusation of bullying;
• Educate students on the anti-bullying policies and dynamics of bullying;
• Educate parents and guardians about the anti-bullying polices, dynamics of bullying and how
parents and guardians can provide support and reinforce policies at home; and
• Keep a public record of statistics and relevant information on acts of bullying. However, the
names of the students who were reported to have committed the acts of bullying must be
treated with confidentiality and will only be made available to the teachers and school
administration that are directly responsible for the said students and parents or guardians of the
victims of bullying.

A Teacher’s Role in Bullying Prevention

 Types of bullying and bully prevention Bullying can take physical, verbal, and online
forms. The thing about bullying is that it’s preventable. ...
 Educate Over the last 10 years, there’s been an increased focus on bullying and how
detrimental bullying can be. ...
 Create a safe, supportive environment As a teacher, you can create a place that’s safe
and supportive. ...
 Offer support ...
 Seek professional development ...
What can teachers do about bullying in schools?
As a teacher, you can create a place that’s safe and supportive. This means teaching
students to welcome and include everyone. This also involves monitoring traditional
bullying hot spots and encouraging students to open up about incidents of bullying so
they can be addressed by you, and other staff members, immediately — before it’s too
late.

Offer support
If you stop an incident of bullying, separate the children involved and gather all of the
facts and what may have led to the situation. It’s important to support both the victim
and the aggressor. Allow them both to understand why the situation occurred and offer
them guidance and alternatives so they can prevent it from happening again. Recognize
that communication is the key to making a change, and that includes following up with
both students to consistently guide them toward healthy coping strategies and resilient
outcomes.