Minister of Education Wu Ching-ji (吳清基) should not step down over Tuesday’s blunder of apparently downplaying the seriousness of bullying on school campuses. He should not resign because his resignation would be the real triviality in the escalating problem of bullying. Wu should stay on because the Ministry of Education needs to propose specific — not general — solutions to bullying.
Many still remember the death of Yeh Yung-chih (葉永誌), a junior-high school student in Pingtung who was bullied and abused by his peers for acting less manly and whose body was found in one of the school’s toilets in April 2000. His death remains unsolved and, almost a decade later, bullying appears, if anything, more blatant.
It is time for the ministry to propose something that really works, something that will not only curb bullying on campus, but also transform those who have habitually taken pleasure in degrading the weak, the different, the small and the timid.
While about 500 high school and vocational high school principals on Friday urged the ministry to reconsider its “zero corporal punishment policy” and educational groups called on it to earmark more funding for social workers for schools, there was little focusing on the bullies themselves. Corporal punishment or public humiliation of bullies rarely really works; it just makes bullies more devious. However, bullies must learn that they will be held accountable for their behavior, and not just academically.
The Children and Youth Welfare Act (兒童及少年保護法) obliges medical professionals, educators, social workers and law enforcement personnel to report cases of physical and psychological abuse of children to the government within 24 hours of learning of an incident. The act also states that government agencies at all levels must keep children’s best interests in mind when dealing with cases related to their welfare.
However, the act lacks regulations that would make bullies face a mandatory legal process — regulations that the ministry should consider introducing.
Wu spoke of the need for schools to educate their students about the legal system and the legal ramifications of bullying during weekly gatherings or orientations. This would be a good first step, because every student should know about the legal protections available to them and the consequences they could face if they abuse others. It is important to show them what is written in the law is not empty words.
Once a case of bullying enters the legal process, schools or the appropriate agencies should provide the alleged bullies with legal counseling or legal aides, as well as councilors to help them analyze their own behavior. That said, schools should stop trying to force bullies and their victims to reconcile in a bid to ensure social harmony, especially if the actions of the bully constitutes reckless endangerment, assault or battery. In fact, adults, whether parents or other interested parties, should only be allowed limited involvement in the resolution of the case. Part of the reason why so few reports of bullying reach the ministry’s Campus Security Center each year is because of intervention by parents, or, more frequently, by elected representatives, as Wu told the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee on Thursday.
Such intervention only ensures the problem continues to exist, rather than dealing appropriately with it. Adults who try to cover up cases of alleged bullying are doing nobody any favors — not the alleged bully, certainly not the victim and not society. Bullies lose the opportunity to learn the meaning of responsibility and reliability. The victims and everyone else learn that having friends in high places means you don’t have to obey the rules.
Children growing up need to learn to obey the law. Bullies might have to learn the lesson the hard way, but it will be a lesson they will never forget.
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