Three out of 10 adolescents in Taiwan have experienced bullying, either as victims or witnesses, with verbal and physical bullying being the most common, a survey conducted by the Taiwan International Association for Advancement of Children Rights has found.
A total of 30.58 percent of respondents — comprising junior and senior-high school students — said they have either been the victims of bullying or have seen or heard people around them being bullied.
The types of bullying were verbal bullying (86.3 percent), physical bullying (70.8 percent), relational bullying (67 percent), cyberbullying (18 percent) and sexual bullying (13.6 percent), the survey found.
When asked about the possible cause of bullying, respondents attributed 59 percent of the cases to the victim’s personality, 49.5 percent to physical appearance and 27 percent to personal hygiene.
The survey found that 13 percent of the respondents were victims of bullying, which resulted in polarized reactions, said Chang An-tzu (張安慈), a consultant at the association.
Some of the victims changed their attitudes in an attempt to fit in, but others became depressed and were reluctant or afraid to make friends, Chang said.
Bullied adolescents might refuse to attend school, injure themselves deliberately, have nightmares or even lash out when they think they are about to be bullied, Chang said.
Judging from the reasons cited for bullying, adolescent people’s character, including their ability to make friends, and their self-image and sense of worth, can be improved, Chang said.
Efforts to prevent bullying should be improved, because as many as 70 percent of adolescents ignore, choose not to get involved or do not know what to do when they witness bullying, Chang said.
The survey was conducted last month and collected 1,205 valid samples.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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