Education
SOME Nigerians have called for a united front against school bullying, advocating partnerships between governments, schools and parents to safeguard students’ well-being and safety.
The respondents spoke with the New News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Ibadan, Abeokuta and Ilorin.
They noted that such synergy had become necessary to create a peaceful and conducive environment for learning, particularly, in secondary schools.
A child advocate, Dr Rosemary Odigbo, said bullying and assault in schools had become alarming with devastating physical, emotional and psychological consequences on victims.
Odigbo, the Oyo State Coordinator of Child Protection Network Nigeria, remarked that victims of bullying and assault often faced profound and long-lasting consequences.
According to her, the consequences include emotional trauma, physical harm, social isolation, academic decline and loss of trust.
She underscored the need for parents and communities to collaborate with local organisations and law enforcement agencies to address the trend.
“There is a need to support victims and ensure accountability for perpetrators through appropriate interventions.
“We owe it to our children to create schools where they feel safe, valued and empowered to learn and grow.
“Addressing these challenges head-on is essential to protect their well-being and future,” Odigbo said.
In Abeokuta, a social commentator, Mr Tunde Adeyi, described bullying as a social problem whose causes and consequences were not limited to the schools.
Adeyi explained that bullying could stem from societal frustrations, transfer of aggression, or traits, unconsciously imbibed by students from their parents.
Comrade Yinka Folarin, the National Secretary of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), described bullying as violating an individual’s fundamental rights and dignity.
According to Folarin, the menace is detrimental to learning and harms the academic performance of victims.
The Vice-Chancellor of Bells University of Technology, Ota, Prof Jeremiah Ojediran, who corroborated earlier opinions, noted that victims often experience intellectual, emotional, physical, and academic challenges.
“There is an urgent need to deploy swift action and support mechanisms to students who may be victims of bullying to ensure that their voices are heard, and their well-being prioritised,” Ojediran said.
He advised victims of bullying or violence to speak up to people they trust, rather than continue to groan under the fear of further victimisation.
The Principal of Agunbiade Victory High School, Abeokuta, Mr Olu Olufunwa, called for increased vigilance on students by parents and school authorities to address the scourge.
Olufunwa said such watchfulness could quickly reveal students’ unusual behaviour, which could point to a case requiring prompt attention.
According to him, when school authorities overlook the unwholesome attitude of students or teachers, the school may be unconsciously encouraging monsters.
“In many cases, punishments are often overly lenient or inconsistently enforced against students/teachers’ misbehaviour and thereby turn out to be too weak to serve as detriment to others,” he said.
The principal, however, explained that punishment must not necessarily be corporal to instill right values in children.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Ogun Chapter, Mr Samson Oyelere, frowned at bullying, describing it as demotivating to learning.
According to Oyelere, bullying has far-reaching consequences on students and can affect their academic performance, and emotional and psychological well-being.
“Knowledge can only be acquired with a stable mind, but bullying disrupts such stability.
“The effects of bullying on students are enormous and include psychological trauma and distress. It reduces academic performance and self-confidence.
“It increases anxiety, depression, and stress.
“It also increases the number of out-of-school children as victims may feel forced to abandon their education because the school environment may become hostile and intimidating to them,” he said.
Oyelere called for measures by appropriate authorities to punish anyone found guilty of the act.
The NUT secretary also urged parents to be mindful of how they relate with their spouses at home.
“The children can consciously or unconsciously imbibe such traits and give them expression at school,” he said.
In Ilorin, Dr Tahjudeen Bolaji, an educationist and Chairman, Association of Model Islamic Schools, Kwara Chapter, said bullying could affect victims’ education and ultimately result in death if not arrested.
He encouraged school owners to develop rules and regulations that make bullying a punishable offence with the offender’s name in the school’s black book.
Bolaji further said teachers should avoid assaulting their students via severe beating and punishment.
He, however, described learning without good character as a waste of time.
“So, there’s a need to discipline students, but in a moderate way that will not result in assault.
“Once parents entrust their children with us, it is our responsibility to train them accordingly and any child that violates the rules and regulations will be corrected accordingly.
“We sometimes have issues with parents interfering in our mode of training learners and such parents are counselled, and if they persist, we hand over their children back to them,” he said. (NAN)
11th December, 2024.
C.E.
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