EDITORIAL - Bullied students
Poverty, physical and mental stunting due to insufficient food nutrients, crowded classrooms and teacher shortages – these factors have often been raised in studies related to the deteriorating quality of Philippine education.
In the latest Program for International Student Assessment, another reason was highlighted in the results: bullying in school. The 2022 PISA, whose results were released last Dec. 5, showed that one in every three 15-year-old students in the country had suffered bullying at least once a week.
Overall, the Philippines ranked in the bottom 10 in terms of performance in mathematics, science and reading among 81 countries and economies that participated in the PISA last year. The Philippines ranked seventh among the eight members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that participated, ahead only of Cambodia.
While bullying incidents declined between 2018 when the Philippines first participated in the PISA and in the 2022 assessment, 28 percent is still high for the 7,193 students from 188 schools who took the latest test, and who reported that other students had “made fun” of them. Another 19 percent reported being threatened by their school peers.
Among the acts of bullying were having the students’ personal belongings taken away or destroyed, and being shoved or physically hit. Some complained of being the subject of “nasty rumors” while others felt they were deliberately left out of certain activities.
Awareness of the impact of mental health issues on students has increased over the years, amid rising cases of suicide and depression particularly among teenagers. Social media has facilitated psychological bullying and other forms of cyber violence. The Philippines has passed a law to promote mental health, and schools have intensified counseling and child protection programs. The PISA results, however, indicate that bullying remains pervasive.
Certain private organizations have long operated hotlines for suicide prevention and counseling assistance for mental health. Operators of the hotlines have reported spikes in calls in the past years, particularly during the COVID lockdowns. Yet resources for preventing bullying and promoting
