EDITORIAL - Another hindrance to education

Poverty, poor nutrition, language problems and inadequate school facilities are among the factors that have been cited for the poor performance of young Filipino students in reading comprehension, science and mathematics.

Child welfare advocates have added another factor: bullying in school. At a hearing this week conducted by the Senate committee on basic education, it was learned that approximately seven out of 10 students in the country’s public schools have suffered some form of bullying.

In 2016, the Council for the Welfare of Children conducted the National Baseline Survey on Violence Against Children among students aged 13 to 17. The results showed that 65 percent of the students had experienced bullying. This was topped only by the 66 percent who had suffered physical violence. Fifty-eight percent reported suffering emotional violence while 20 had experienced sexual violence.

The bullying and violence occurred despite the passage in 2004 of Republic Act 9262, the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act, followed by RA 10627 or the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013.

In the Program for International Student Assessment conducted in 2018, wherein Filipino students ranked second to the last among 70 participating countries in terms of competencies in reading, mathematics and science, the Philippines ranked highest in terms of school bullying.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate committee, showed statistics to illustrate a correlation between bullying and a student’s performance in school. Gatchalian noted that students who were never bullied scored higher in math and science than children who have suffered bullying. An environment of fear, he said, is not conducive to learning. Those bullied can be absent from school often or drop out altogether. Several victims have resorted to suicide.

The enactment of the Anti-Bullying Act encouraged reporting of complaints, but child welfare advocates agree that cases of bullying, like cases of domestic violence, are underreported. Records of the Department of Education show 1,309 cases of bullying reported in Academic Year 2013-2014. This jumped to 5,624 in AY 2014-2015, and continued going up in the next years, to 7,221, 8,750, 15,866 and 21,521 before slowing down to 11,637 in AY 2019-2020 as schools shifted to distance learning due to the pandemic lockdowns.

Assisting victims of bullying starts with reporting, but safe mechanisms for this are inadequate. Child welfare and education advocates have cited the need for better mechanisms that will encourage victims to report bullying without fear of public humiliation or retaliation. Digital technology has facilitated bullying. The measures should include linkages to law enforcement agencies with the capability to deal with cyber bullying. This criminal act can scar a young person for life. Perpetrators must be caught and face appropriate punishment.