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Bullying has always existed, where some students harass the quietest, intelligent or even disabled students, for instance. It is a phenomenon that shows the absence of morality and must be seriously addressed. The phenomenon of bullying is widespread in today’s children’s lives and has become clear in schools, homes and malls in the absence of family guidance and awareness. Protecting children from violence and bullying has turned into a global campaign worthy of efforts. I believe that a bully is a sick person and often ends up failing in life, and studying their reasons and motivations is important for treatment.
Bullying is known as the deliberate use of force, taking many forms of verbal or physical abuse, whether from an individual against another or a group against an individual with the aim of hurting or exerting pressure on a person who is incapable of defending himself because of the unequal power, physical strength and personality between him and the bullying person. Verbal bullying is common today and harmful because it includes insults, harsh criticism, spreading lies, and sometimes anonymous emails full of curses and insults. Sometimes it can lead to exclusion, depression and even suicide.
This year, a number of Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon launched community campaigns to address and study bullying in partnership with their ministries of education and in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), funded by the European Union.
The campaign in the UAE, for example, witnessed a wide community response to the need of creating an awareness campaign, as well as organization of events to shed light on various issues related to bullying, such as what is bullying and its various forms, and what are the characteristics of the bullying person, beside the impact of bullying on children and how it affects their lives and mental health. The ministry of education conducted a questionnaire on the most common types of bullying on Twitter, and identified four types of verbal, social, electronic and physical bullying.
Most studies in this regard showed different reasons behind this kind of ill behavior, such as a lack of behavioral guidance, lack of sense of security and emotional stability, electronic games, cartoon programs, the existence of a person who is immersed in the child’s environment, family disintegration, lack of communication skills, lack of parental control, promotion of bullying behavior, the absence of clear rules of conduct within the school, cruelty of parents and a large school size.
Bruno Mays, UNICEF representative in Egypt, said, “Bullying deprives children of their right to play and learn safely, and all children will benefit from the promotion of a culture that rejects bullying in order to preserve their safety and protect them from harm.” He added: “We are optimistic that committed national efforts, prevention and response to violence in and out of schools will be sustained and strengthened by our partners. “
I believe without doubt that the work to combat the phenomenon of violence must be in partnership with several parties in the community along with consultants and specialists. The media today has an upper hand and a major role in the dissemination of an anti-bullying culture.
By Muna Al-Fuzai
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