Forum: Time to take definitive stand against school bullies

My sympathy goes out to the Meridian Secondary School student who was reported to have had her eardrum ruptured in the most recent reported case of school bullying. I wish her a speedy and complete recovery. 

Something is obviously very wrong with discipline in our schools. It is time to stop denying that we have a discipline problem on our hands and instead ask ourselves some hard questions.

Are our current disciplinary processes updated and effective in the face of more cases of school bullying? Have we been too soft in our approach all these past years in dealing with this perennial issue? 

Is the punishment commensurate with the hurt caused in such grievous hurt cases? Or are the bullies emboldened by their actions because they get away with just a slap on their wrist? 

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has said that schools take bullying seriously (

Comprehensive measures in place to address school bullying

, Sept 30), but considering the number of cases being reported regularly on social media (then there are those which go unreported), something is still not right. 

MOE needs to implement a much harsher regime (think old school) and set out even clearer punishments, and rules and guidelines on how it plans to deal with bullies in its schools and make them known to all students and parents.

Schools are meant to be safe learning environments.

It is high time we took a definitive stand against bullies and made it clear to everyone that there is no room for such violence (verbal or physical) in or outside our schools, and that perpetrators will be dealt with harshly. 

Chan Whye Shiung