Testing - Can Malaysia stop its school bullying scourge before it’s too late?
Experts say that laws are not the be-all and end-all when it comes to tackling bullying, and there is a need for a more holistic approach.
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KUALA LUMPUR: Name-calling with racial slurs. Body shaming. Instances of being forced to carry another’s belongings.
These are just some of the examples of bullying cases that Farhana - a discipline teacher at a secondary school in Johor Bahru - has had to deal with among her students.
And while they may not appear to be as severe as those that have grabbed national headlines of late, Farhana - who wanted to be identified only by her first name - said that anecdotally, more students are now coming forward to the school’s counsellors to report cases of alleged bullying.
She added that this may be in part due to increased awareness over what constitutes bullying amid a call by Malaysia king Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar for the government to implement a comprehensive anti-bullying campaign to stop the scourge.
"We have always taken this issue seriously, but even more so with the recent cases," said Farhana.
According to data from Malaysia’s Ministry of Education, bullying cases have gone up every year since 2021, when 326 cases were reported then. The number then shot up to 3,887 cases in 2022, 6,528 cases in 2023 and 7,681 cases last year.
Malaysia - much like the rest of the world - was dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, where school closures and home-based learning were the norm then.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said in a parliamentary reply on Aug 27 that of the cases reported in 2024, 5,689 cases involved secondary school students, while the remaining 1,992 of them involved primary school students.
She did not give a breakdown of previous year’s cases beyond the one in 2024.
Meanwhile, experts whom CNA spoke to have noticed a shift in bullying trends. While the problem was once more prevalent in universities and secondary schools, they said there is now anecdotal evidence that bullying is increasingly happening among younger students.
Rizan Hassan of Belia Mahir - a youth-focused initiative that seeks to empower young people through guidance and community involvement - posited that non-controlled exposure of children to social media, environmental influences and a "copycat" culture make it easy for them to imitate aggressive behaviour.
“This is worrying because that age is supposed to be a time for character and empathy development, but some are already being exposed to a toxic culture,” he told CNA, acknowledging that bullying is a global phenomenon.
While experts and child rights groups agree that bullying is a serious issue, they stress that the focus should be on prevention.
Lee Lyn-Ni, a child protection specialist at UNICEF Malaysia, told CNA that proposals for a special law or tribunal on bullying reflect public concerns on the matter, but laws on their own are not a solution.
Last month, de facto law minister Azalina Othman Said said that the Malaysian Cabinet was reviewing the possibility of a dedicated Anti-Bullying Act, including the establishment of a tribunal for cases involving children.
“Restorative approaches such as helping children understand the impact of their actions, repair harm, and build empathy, have been shown to be more effective than punitive measures in reducing bullying and creating safer schools,” said Lee.
“Because children are still developing, they may act impulsively or without fully realising the consequences. A balanced approach ensures that victims are protected while giving those who bully a chance to learn and change.”
SERIES OF HIGH-PROFILE CASES
Malaysia and the region have been rocked by a series of headline-grabbing school bullying cases since July, including that of Zara Qairina Mahathir, who was found unconscious after allegedly falling from the third floor of her dormitory on Jul 16.
The 13-year-old student from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Tun Datu Mustapha in Sabah was pronounced dead at a local hospital on Jul 17.
Zara’s death had sparked social media allegations of bullying, which garnered national attention for weeks through the hashtag #JusticeforZara.
