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[av_heading heading=’Bullying pervades public schools’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY BOY RYAN ZABAL
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KALIBO, Aklan – Bullying happens every day in public elementary and high schools in Aklan, according to the Department of Education (DepEd).
About seven out of 10 victims of bullying are males, the DepEd’s Division of Aklan said in a report.
Citing the consolidated report on child abuse and bullying from schools, the DepEd-Aklan said bullying incidents in 19 school districts this year reached 283, up 96 percent from the 144 incidents in 2015.
The figures did not include cases in private elementary and high schools.
Under the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013, bullying is defined as “any severe or repeated use by one or more students of a written, verbal or electronic expression, or a physical act or gesture.”
Child bullying cases are classified into physical, social, gender-based, retaliation, and cyber-bullying, according to Roland Democrito, an education program specialist II for the DepEd-Aklan.
In school year 2015-2016, the DepEd-Aklan logged two cases of cyber-bullying and four cases of gender-based bullying.
There were 194 cases of physical bullying, up 110 percent from the 92 incidents in the previous school year, while social bullying racked up to 81 cases from 44.
The number of victims increased, too. Male victims rose 97 percent to 189 from 96, while the female victims, 96 percent to 94 from 48.
Six cases of child abuse involving female victims — five sexual abuses and one physical abuse — were also reported to the DepEd-Aklan.
Democrito said the division has adopted programs and policies to protect schoolchildren from sexual abuse, violence, bullying, discrimination, exploitation, and other forms of child abuse.
On Sept. 17, the DepEd-Aklan conducted capability-building training on child protection, said Democrito, the division’s child protection coordinator and gender and development focal person.
Private school representatives, state-designated child protection coordinators, and Alternative Learning System coordinators and teachers participated. (Aklan Forum Journal/PN)
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