One of my sons is a victim of bullying in a local school. He has mild special needs and I think a lot of children do not know how to react and behave around him.

Their lack of empathy and compassion is probably due to the lack of information given to them (Better for all parties to work together to address bullying; Teach students to develop empathy for others, both March 20).

It is certainly not helpful when teachers are not equipped with the relevant experience to educate their charges appropriately.

My son has been enrolled in different international schools and is now in a local school.

I have followed closely the situations he has faced and is still facing. The way the schools and teachers "handle" bullying situations is disappointing.

It is wonderful that the Ministry of Education (MOE) has been trying to integrate children with special needs into mainstream schools. However, teachers are still not up to speed when it comes to coping with the needs of children like my son.

First, there are not enough experienced allied teachers available within the school to help the many children with challenges. Subject teachers are not trained to assist and educate children with challenges.

They also fail to educate the others on how to accept their peers with special needs and to be empathetic.

The "old school" method of dealing with bullying has to be updated. In one of the many cases that involved punishing my son's bullies, the teachers simply punished the whole class because of a few black sheep, and this made the situation worse for my son.

On top of that, there seems to be little follow-up by the Special Educational Needs Division within MOE when a special needs child is placed in a mainstream school, to make sure that his welfare is looked after.

When it comes to bullying, parents could be the best resource for schools to tap.

In the case of my family, while the schools agreed and said they welcomed our input, most of the time, they did not listen when we offered help and advice.

Schools usually want to deal with the situation themselves, which more often than not, ends up being as good as not handling it.

I also do not understand why intervention and education is enhanced only during a child's younger school years, that is, in primary school and below.

When children have special needs, they do not "just recover"; it is a lifelong process where, with proper guidance along the way, they can function much better. That includes taking care of themselves and standing up to bullies. Such guidance is needed especially when they enter secondary school and beyond.

Similarly, teaching children not to bully others, as well as how to stand up for those being bullied should be reinforced, particularly in secondary school and beyond.

Florence Beckmann