BY: CHRISTOPHER FERNANDEZ

If Malaysians have the perception that bullying in schools is under control and not a serious issue, the reality is that bullying of all kinds experienced by teenagers is actually quite common and now being accepted as the norm.

But should bullying and ragging of any kind be accepted as the norm? In answer to this question the trauma and psychological scars experienced and borne both by the bully and the bullied have created a looming crisis.

The Health Ministry’s Institute for Public’s Health National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS): Adolescent Health Survey (AHS) 2022 which involved 33,523 secondary school students aged 13 to 17 has unearthed some startling facts.

In the survey it was found that one in five adolescents in Malaysia had bullied and harassed somebody through the Internet, mobile phone or through other electronic devices and not only
are the perpetrators male but there were a significant number of females.

The cause for concern is that the perpetrators made up 22.7 percent of the male population and 13.9 percent of the female population. While the methods of bullying varied, the objectives were to cause fear, inflict damage, hurt and harm.

Of the common cyberbullying methods, the top three were making rude comments online (11.3 percent), spreading rumours about someone online (6.9 percent), and sending or posting embarrassing photos of others online (4.8 percent).

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE

** The views expressed on this opinion is of the writer and not the publisher