Specific law needed to curb menace of bullying

Editor's note: A number of bullying cases have been reported from schools in China. On Children's Day, two experts share their views on how to curb bullying in schools with China Daily's Yao Yuxin. Excerpts follow:

Alert parents can protect children against bullying

Bullying in schools didn't get the attention it deserved until 2016, when the State Council, China's Cabinet, issued a notice to deal with bullying on campus. Among the many bullying cases discussed at the time, one was of a 15-year-old boy who committed suicide by drinking pesticide in Huzhu county, Qinghai province, on Children's Day because he could no longer bear the bullying by his fellow students.

Since 2016, China has taken several administrative and legal measures to curb bullying in schools, with Tianjin becoming the first city to enact a local regulation against bullying on campus last year.

Yet relevant policies have not been well implemented in many places. In particular, many local education authorities and schools have just held meetings and issued instructions to curb bullying on campus. Also, many teachers and parents still don't distinguish between a joke or leg-pulling and bullying, and thus pay little attention to the consequences of bullying, which makes many bullying victims helpless.

But since bullying always has an element of malice, there is a need to teach children to protest if someone tries to rag them, especially if the person uses the same or a similar method a second time, which is a clear sign of bullying. In this regard, teachers, school authorities and family members should listen patiently to children who say they are being bullied by their schoolmates, and take up the issue with school authorities.

Bullying in schools is a global issue. So students should be taught to handle disputes and differences either amicably or with the help of teachers. Yet bullying in schools should neither be over-exaggerated nor ignored. It should be given the attention it deserves so that no student falls victim to bullying, because bullying can leave a permanent physical and/or psychological scar on the victim.

According to several surveys, bullying in schools cannot be curbed without the help of parents. To begin with, parents should avoid domestic violence, because children exposed to domestic violence could become very aggressive in their behavior or start acting in ways that could draw insulting comments from their classmates, even friends.

In addition, parents should have regular conversations with their children on subjects other than studies. This will help the parents to know if their kids are being bullied and advise them how to deal with or confront the bullies, and approach the school authorities if the matter is very serious.

Tong Lihua, director of a juvenile law research center in Beijing.