Education
SOME education sector stakeholders in the South-South region have called for adequate reporting and documentation of bullying in secondary schools.
The stakeholders who spoke during a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) survey in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River, said that many cases of bullying in schools were left unreported.
Chief Bassey Akpan, an Uyo-based retired School Principal, said that bullying had become a hydra-headed monster starring the school system in the face.
Akpan said that bullying could not be effectively tackled if cases were not documented or reported to the relevant authorities.
He said that bullying of junior students by their senior colleagues had resulted in serious injuries and in some cases deaths.
Akpan, a former executive officer, All Nigerian Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), in Akwa Ibom, said that it was crucial for the authorities to determine effective ways of tackling the issue of bullying in schools.
“We should do this to create a safer and more supportive learning environment for students to learn and become well moulded in character.
“School authorities should stand firm in condemning bullying and meting adequate punishments on perpetrators,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Sunday Akpan, a serving Vice Principal in a technical college in Akwa Ibom, said that bullying should be discouraged in schools by the authorities.
“It depends on the school authority, here in our school, the penalties for bullying are clearly spelt out. Bullying is an issue no school authority should treat with levity.
“To tackle bullying, the students involved should be penalised, it can be through suspension or asking the parents or guardians of the perpetrator to pay a fine,” he said.
An Akwa Ibom-based Civil Rights Activist, Mr Bassey Emenim, also expressed concerns over the non-reportage of cases of bullying in secondary schools.
He said it was expedient for stakeholders to collaborate towards ensuring effective sensitisation to stamp out bullying.
“Many families may see bullying as a part of the school system, they may not be aware of the implications and the need to report attacks in their children and wards.
‘”The fact remains that we must encourage effective reporting and documentation of bullying. We must also sensitise school children to the need to stay away from bullying,” he said.
Mr Charles Inyang, a resident of Uyo, said that his 13-year old son had faced bullying by senior students in a public secondary school.
“The painful part is that nobody told me about it, not even my son or his teachers. I became aware of the incident several weeks after it happened.
“Not being proactive in tackling issues of bullying in school is to lay a bad foundation, a foundation that will make children see bullying as a part of the education system.
“We need to all speak up. Bullying is dangerous, it can lead to both physical and emotional injuries,” he said.
Mr Ubokmfon Williams, the Chairman, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) in Akwa Ibom, said that bullying was not very prominent in private day schools.
Williams however said that students in private boarding schools were facing some level of bullying, especially outside school hours.
The NAPPS official said that bullying was rearing its ugly head in school because supervision had become poor.
“Teachers and other members of staff in schools should be more vigilant. Most cases of bullying occur after school hours.
“The problem may start during school hours, it may take another dimension after school hours. That is when they will fight, beat and oppress each other.
“With the right supervision and vigilance, the right interventions will be made to ensure that no one is bullied during and after school hours,” he said.
Also speaking on the issue, Dr MacFarlane Ejah, the Executive Director, International Training Research and Advocacy Project (INTRAP), said that bullying in Nigerian schools was a reflection of the larger Society.
Ejah, a Calabar-based Public Affairs Analyst and a Chartered Mediator, said that in the country, the privileged class bullied the others politically and economically.
“We are in a country where people show power, force and strength. Sadly, the children have learnt from them and have taken it to school.
The INTRAP executive director, said that bullying in school could be tackled through a holistic approach geared towards character change.
“We need to start asking ourselves what our laws say about bullying, are there people who are spared because of their status in the society.
“It is the level of implementation of the laws against bullying in our society that will determine whether we encourage it as a people or not,” he said.
Prof. Grace Etuk, the Head, Social Works Department, University of Calabar, stated that bullying was an expression of aggression.
“When bullying is expressed in school by a student, that attitude may be partly influenced by the child’s home
“Whenever you see a child that is a bully, do also check their parental background, it may be coming from one or both parents or the child has not been taught interpersonal relationship.
“Children do a lot of observational learning, so, if one or both parents are aggressive towards the other, there is a high tendency that the child will pickup that character, however, a child can also use bullying to express ill feelings,” she noted.
Etuk urged parents to teach their children how to relate peacefully with their schoolmates, and to let children to understand that bullying was dangerous and unacceptable.
She further urged children to resist being bullied by others, saying, “they have to be strong and stand against such behaviours”
Mr Godwin Okwu, a Cross River-based private school operator, said that bullying could be reduced if teachers were made to play the role of a ‘house parent’ in dormitories.
He said that having house parents would ensure proper monitoring and discipline within the dormitory instead of leaving such role in the hands of fellow students.
In Rivers, some education sector stakeholders, called for more effective sensitisation to bullying in order to instill moral values on students and enthrone discipline in schools.
Mr Prince Wiro, the National Coordinator, Center for Basic Rights and Accountability Campaign, said that bullying as a form of assault could be verbal and non-verbal in nature.
“Bullying can occur by way of sex-for-grades, rape, rights abuse among others, and if the trend is not checked, it can erode positive societal values and ruin the outcomes of an educational pursuit,” he said.
Wiro stated that bullying was having huge negative impacts on the society, and that many cases of bullying were being swept under the carpet especially because influential parents failed to play the right roles.
He urged school operators to seek collaborations with relevant authorities including the security agencies to enlighten students on the dangers of bullying.
”Moral values have been neglected by many schools to the extent that most primary and even secondary students no longer understand what constitutes societal ills.
“This can be tackled through deliberate effort by stakeholders to do things correctly. We should all be involved in teaching our children how to relate with their mates.
Mrs Henrietta Ogoh, a Guidance and Counseling Expert, said that bullying had become worse because of the presence of gangs and drug addicts in schools.
Ogoh said that bullying and indiscipline were some of the visible symptoms of drug abuse and cultism among young adults.
”Shools should devote time every week for anti bullying, cultism and drug abuse seminars for their students.
Another respondent Mrs Hilda Desmond, a lawyer and Women/Children Rights Activist, called on regulatory authorities to ensure age appropriateness before sending their children to secondary schools.
“It makes no sense sending a nine-year old child to the secondary school, the possibility of bullying is just there because the child lacks the emotional power to cope with a high school environment.
Mr Isijana Adasi, an Education Consultant, said that bullying could occur when teachers and school operators neglected their duties.
Adasi called for more commitment on the part of school operators to effectively tackle bullying.
“There is a crucial need for adequate reporting of cases of bullying. Bullying is dangerous and unacceptable,” he said.(NAN
9th December, 2024.C.E
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