Stop Bullying

Bullying can be defined as unpleasant behaviour, in both the real world and the virtual world, which makes a person feel uncomfortable, hurt, and distressed, carried out by an individual or a group. Bullying is an event that must be prevented as early as possible, because it can have harmful effects on both the victim and the perpetrator. Bullying happens everywhere, from the school environment to the workplace. Very often people who are considered weak become the target of bullies, and the group that does the bullying tends to feel powerful and to consider others weaker than themselves.

            The urge to bully does not appear by itself; there are always causal factors, whether from the family environment, society, or the person themselves. The causes of someone bullying include frequently seeing their parents quarrel, unhealthy parenting, in the sense of being given too much freedom in their social life so that parents monitor them too little, having been a victim of violence or bullying, being influenced by people around them to join in bullying, and being influenced by games or shows that are not appropriate for their age.

            It should be noted that there are several types of bullying, namely physical bullying. This bullying is carried out physically and usually leaves marks on parts of the body; examples are hitting, kicking, pinching, scratching, and even sexual harassment is counted as physical bullying. Verbal bullying is a form of non-physical bullying such as insulting, mocking, and ridiculing others. Social bullying aims to damage a person’s reputation in the social environment, for example by making jokes to humiliate and insult others. Online bullying (Cyberbullying) is a form of action directed at a person through digital technology, such as sending texts, emails, pictures, or videos whose content mocks, threatens, or is rude or sexual in nature, and spreading lies or disgraceful things about someone on social media.

            These types of bullying cause harmful effects on the person who becomes the victim. Some of the effects of bullying on victims are physical and psychological pain, reduced self-confidence, a high level of fear, a decline in academic achievement for school children because of fear of going to school, difficulty making friends, and many other negative effects that happen to victims of bullying.

            Given these effects, efforts to prevent bullying are greatly needed, from the family environment to the wider community. Prevention efforts by the family are as follows. First, build good communication between children and parents; with good communication it is easier for parents to know the child’s condition at the time, and if the child shows a different attitude, they can ask directly without awkwardness or anything else. Second, give children knowledge about bullying behaviour, so that children will help to prevent bullying themselves. Third, strengthen the role of parents in preventing bullying both at home and at school. Close monitoring of children is very necessary, especially since parents must truly know what happens to their children and what they do in their daily lives. Fourth, report to the school if the child becomes a victim, which is why cooperation between parents and teachers at school is greatly needed.

            Prevention efforts by educational institutions: prevention does not come only from the family environment. Educational institutions also play a major role, because bullying can happen anywhere, even at school. Prevention efforts that educational institutions can undertake are as follows. First, raising awareness of bullying in the school environment. Educational institutions must be able to give students, teachers, and education staff an understanding of bullying. This understanding can start from the smallest things, such as the advisor’s address during the flag ceremony and anti-bullying education by teachers in the classroom. Second, making policies on bullying; educational institutions must be able to make firm policies, rules, and sanctions regarding bullying in the school environment. Educational institutions must also be firm and impartial in dealing with perpetrators of bullying, so that potential perpetrators think twice before bullying. Third, providing a violence complaint service so that students can report bullying safely. Sometimes, without a report from anyone, bullying itself is hard to detect, so this complaint service is greatly needed.

            Then there are prevention efforts by the community. The community must also take part in preventing bullying, considering that bullying can happen anywhere, even in the community itself. Prevention efforts that can be made in the community are as follows. First, having a caring attitude based on the principle of the best interest of everyone and the principle that everyone is our brother or sister. So if someone becomes a victim, we must care about it. Second, working together with educational institutions to jointly develop a culture of non-violence. Third, together with educational institutions, monitoring the emergence of bullying practices in the surrounding environment.

            Many efforts can be made to prevent bullying. Therefore, let us, as citizens of Indonesia, stop bullying. Let us move together to create a safe and pleasant environment for everyone, in the family, at school, and in the community. United we can, united to end bullying. Stop bullying!! Because everyone has the right to be respected.