Channel NewsAsia - 1 hour 11 minutes ago

MP Dr Neo to raise issue of school bullying in Parliament

SINGAPORE: One child had been kicked in the stomach while another was kicked in the chest and ribs, but the school principal had put it down to "thoughtless pranks".

The incident happened as far as back as 2003, and since then Member of Parliament (MP) Dr Lily Neo, has read about more and more reports in the media of bullying in school.

Now, she has had enough. When Parliament sits on Monday, Dr Neo is not going to be content with just submitting a question for oral or written answer, for which the Speaker moves proceedings along fairly quickly to get through the list of MPs’ questions in 90 minutes.

The MP for Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency has filed a motion of adjournment so that she has 20 minutes to go in depth into the bullying issue.

"When I file a motion to speak, it’s on an issue that I feel very strongly about," Dr Neo told TODAY.

Raising a motion of adjournment to speak about a particular issue is not done often in Parliament. There were none last year or in 2006, and only one in 2005, from then Nominated MP Ong Soh Khim, who spoke on Singapore’s national research and development thrusts.

However, Dr Neo believes bullying in school is an issue of critical concern.

"If you look at the media, there have been a lot of reports of cases of bullying, and my feeling is that it seems to be increasing," she said.

"Research also shows that bullying has harmful psychological impact on the victims, and I think this is one area that really needs to be looked into."

She has also read surveys done by local non—governmental organisations on the incidence of bullying. For instance, a survey released by the Singapore Children’s Society last September revealed that one in five primary school children in Singapore was a victim of bullying.

She is also concerned about cyber bullying, which takes place through the Internet and other interactive devices.

"Where it used to be a one—on—one thing between the bully and the victim, it’s become something seen by hundreds on the Internet and the extent of the damage is huge," she said.

Dr Neo, who is also the chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education, would like to see Singapore schools take a harder stance against bullying, the way schools in the United Kingdom and Australia have by implementing strict rules and regulations specific to bullying.

Elsewhere, state legislators in Missouri, United States, are trying to pass a law against online bullying following the suicide of a 13—year—old girl who had received cruel messages on MySpace.

She thought she was communicating with a 16—year—old boy when it was really the mother of a girl she knew, who was using a fake online profile, according to media reports. Missouri prosecutors are still not able to pursue any criminal charges.

"In Singapore, it seems that bullying has been dismissed as part and parcel of growing up, and I think we have to go beyond that," she said.

"I think the situation is urgent enough to be looked at now, instead of waiting for even more cases to come up."

Dr Neo, who has filed at least eight adjournment motions and members’ motions on topics ranging from the increasing demands of an aging population to more funding for preventive healthcare measures said she will also make recommendations on how to proceed with the issue of bullying when she speaks on Monday.

She told TODAY: "If I ask a question, I can only ask two or three sentences, and sometimes a topic deserves more. In such cases, I usually do research so that I can really elaborate on certain areas." — TODAY/sh

Man this is funny, Singaporean schools has probably the lowest rate of bullying out of any country. Go to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, America or Japan and you'll see it's much much worse. Bullying is all part of growing up, not some issue big enough for government concern.

If you were a smart kid you would've gotten your lunch stolen and beaten up often and there were gang fights as well in later years. Hardly any of this is present in Singapore.

Making online bullying illegal? Sure that's a good idea, instead of educating your kids about the dangers of websites like myspace they opt for the easy way and just make it illegal (Sarcasm). I've read the story about that girl who committed suicide, they make it seem like it was the internet's fault, well I blame the girl and the parents. When someone dies because of drink driving do you blame the alcohol? No, you blame the irresponsible driver.

WOOHOO,

more things for people to blame at the government already!

why should Dr Neo be bothered?

these bullies grow up and beat up people on the streets and police dun care at all.

aredi got so many test cases.

School bullying is an valid concern.

Citizens see themselves as entering into social contracts with their government.

I think legislation is not called for.

I think the ministry should have people to investigate complaints, give talks at schools, counsel students and teachers, recommends disciplinary measures etc.

I think we could look at what the private schools are doing.

Victims of bullies are weak. Since there's strict gun control in the country, the victims can't get even like what Cho Hseong Hui did.

If the school principals are chickensh1t, the MOE must address the issue.

In any gracious society, the strong must protect the weak.

Bullying must be legislated against. Some school children could be the cruelest animals on this planet. They must be deterred from inflicting pains, psychological or physical upon other children simply for the fun of it. It is not enough to give them counseling. Talk is cheap. Action must be taken. Only enforceable laws could stop the unnecessary and unwarranted bullying that is meted out to some of our school children.

Still Dr. Neo at the very most would also carefully confine her question to some mundane issues not the main issues facing the citizens today which may rock the boat.

If she goes further she would be marked straightaway. Previously Dr. Amy Khor asked a question about people feeling betrayed but nowadays after she got her promotion to Mayor has become very low-profile and no longer asked difficult question. May be the Mayor job was given to silence her inquisitiveness over many issues.

This is how the system work, full of wayang deliberately intended to let the MPs know who are the boss so that no one who asked difficult question will be spared the axe. By now after refining such a control every MP and Minister should jolly well learn not to be heros. They now know that truth after seeing what have happened to MP Chng Hee Kok or Dr. Tan Cheng Bok and all have become yes-men.

Originally posted by idiotbutcherer:

Bullying must be legislated against. Some school children could be the cruelest animals on this planet. They must be deterred from inflicting pains, psychological or physical upon other children simply for the fun of it. It is not enough to give them counseling. Talk is cheap. Action must be taken. Only enforceable laws could stop the unnecessary and unwarranted bullying that is meted out to some of our school children.

A fundamental assumption of law is that children are not responsible for their actions.

Abrograding this fundamental will have many legal consequences.

i never minded being bullied it was all about feeling strange

i think there isn't a need for new legislation jsut that they need to actually take action against the bullies.

if the bully has hurt the victim, arrest hima nd charge him for whatever he did, assult or whatever if blood is drawn. or do as civil case.

it's other forms of bullying that might need to be looked at other than just physical

Originally posted by phil30k:

A fundamental assumption of law is that children are not responsible for their actions.

Abrograding this fundamental will have many legal consequences.

if i remember correctly there were some cases of minors being charged as adults, i think some teenagers. can't raise the exact examples, but i think i recalled some reports.

anyway as i understand it they are still responsible but to a lesser extent?

Legislation? Well, give greater powers to school principals to cane school bullies in public and make their own parents do part of the caning for both boys and girls. Bullies think they are tough. Humiliate them thoroughly in front of their peers. They will hide from all their classmates after that, much less try to bully anyone.

Originally posted by hisoka:

if i remember correctly there were some cases of minors being charged as adults, i think some teenagers. can't raise the exact examples, but i think i recalled some reports.

anyway as i understand it they are still responsible but to a lesser extent?

There was a case in America where 2 children murdered another. I think they were about 12 and murdered a younger child. America is leading the way to lowering the age at which children can make legally recognized decisions. I think the age of consent is 16 in some states. This is not to be confused with "arranged" marriages in other countries where 12 year old children are married off by their parents.

In America, children can "divorce" their parents by suing for emancipation.

I don't remember if they were finally prosecuted as adults. But I don't think laws were amended to allow for the prosecution of minors. The united states has Federal Laws and State Laws and I think even laws can vary from county to country.

It was the severity of the crime that made people question the laws protecting minors.

Originally posted by oxford mushroom:

Legislation? Well, give greater powers to school principals to cane school bullies in public and make their own parents do part of the caning for both boys and girls. Bullies think they are tough. Humiliate them thoroughly in front of their peers. They will hide from all their classmates after that, much less try to bully anyone.

I think it's better to address the problem before the crime, rather then wait for the crime and then punish. I think there is sufficient information available to design learning environments that also discourage bullying.

An example, during field trips, have an older child be the "big brother" of a younger child to help explain things.

Teachers bullying bullies will reinforce in the bully that such behavior is acceptable. Outside of the influence of the teachers, his bullying will become exacerbated. This escalation of bullying is what results in the deaths of children.

I have to state that I’m not qualified with regards to education, children’s psychology or other related matters. It’s just my personal and unsubstantiated opinion.

Originally posted by phil30k:

I think it's better to address the problem before the crime, rather then wait for the crime and then punish. I think there is sufficient information available to design learning environments that also discourage bullying.

An example, during field trips, have an older child be the "big brother" of a younger child to help explain things.

Teachers bullying bullies will reinforce in the bully that such behavior is acceptable. Outside of the influence of the teachers, his bullying will become exacerbated. This escalation of bullying is what results in the deaths of children.

Bit naive though...education will not stop bullies from their behaviour. They have to learn that their actions have consequences. Harsh punishment is not bulllying..it's a deterrence.

Originally posted by phil30k:

I have to state that I'm not qualified with regards to education, children's psychology or other related matters. It's just my personal and unsubstantiated opinion.

Fair enough and neither am I an expert...but I have seen how the counselling and 'talk-to-them-nicely' approach used in the UK has failed miserably in this respect

Bullying is a part and parcel of life. We learn it from the Government and pass it on to our peers and kids

Will a singaporean make the US Cho who killed 30++ people in school as his idol?

Channel NewsAsia - 1 hour 44 minutes ago

Children’s Society organises competition to raise awareness of school bullying

SINGAPORE : Keeping bullies at bay and raising awareness of school bullying.

This is the aim of a competition organised by the Singapore Children’s Society.

It attracted 36 teams from 16 secondary schools.

And the winners received their prizes from Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.

At the event, the Singapore Children’s Society also launched Project Cabin at Bowen Secondary School.

It is an area set aside for students to engage in meaningful after—school programmes so as to reduce the number of school drop—outs. — CNA/ch

Has school bullying resulted in student suicides - as had happened in Japan ?

Why will Dr Neo bring up such an issue in Parliament, when there are more important issues that concern Singapore ?

Was Mas Selamant Kastari severely bullied - at the Whitley Primary School building now converted into the infamous Whitley Detention Centre - and causing him to find the best way out through the toilet window ?

Is Dr Neo attempting to circumvent the Prisons Act to get more information about MSK's escape - which would have kept a large portion of the Inquiry Committee's investigation from being revealed ?

If this is Dr Neo's objective, she is quite ingenious.

School bullying small problem. Army bullying - well someone kenna drown in "training" few years of jail only.

"Will a singaporean make the US Cho who killed 30++ people in school as his idol?"

Only if they have access to guns only time is during the Army. Better still they have access to all kinds of explosives, claymore mines, etc. maximum carnage.