Safe learning spaces a must
“While the link between bullying and suicide may be anecdotal, understanding its complexities is crucial to implementing effective interventions.
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“While the link between bullying and suicide may be anecdotal, understanding its complexities is crucial to implementing effective interventions.
Young lives lost to suicide, often linked to the torment of bullying, have become a chillingly familiar refrain, but rarely do they make the headlines in the Philippines.
First, suicide reporting is usually left untouched by the media out of respect for the privacy of grieving families. Second, there's the legal prohibition against making public incidents involving minors.
Third, more often than not, bullying as a trigger for suicide is a correlation established long after the fact, and only if the police have done their work of digging deeper.
For many police investigators, suicides are file-and-forget cases that do not merit time spent determining causalities.
According to Senator Bong Go, a staunch mental health advocate, the alarming statistics for 2021 showed 404 students had committed suicide and 2,147 others attempted to end it all.
As to whether bullying has played a big role in those preventable deaths, it remains something that researchers must try to determine to make the country's anti-bullying law more effective.
"What's a child's coping mechanism? And what is its impact on the child's self-confidence? Did it result in a bullied student's hesitance to come to school?" Go asked, adding that bullying should not be brushed aside as simple misbehavior.
"For the bully, we need to look closer at the immediate causes of the student's act of bullying other kids. Is there a factor in family life that is causing this behavior?" Go wondered. "Is the bully coming from a broken family? Influenced by peers? Or was he also a victim of bullying before?"
While the link between bullying and suicide may be anecdotal, understanding its complexities is crucial to implementing effective interventions. In the United States, recent research by the Centers for Disease Control showed that no single factor, including bullying, directly causes suicide.
Suicide-related behavior, CDC discovered, was often fueled by overwhelming feelings of hopelessness and helplessness arising from a complex interplay of risk factors, including mental health struggles, personal relationships, and broader life stressors.
However, the agency said bullying casts a long shadow. It inflicts significant harm on all involved, whether as the target, the perpetrator, or a witness. It added that the youth who experience bullying are more likely to report higher levels of suicidal ideation and attempts.
Whether in the Philippines or the United States, or elsewhere, this highlights the urgency of creating safe environments that are free from the insidious grip of intimidation and exclusion.
As Go pointed out with his series of questions, attributing suicide solely to bullying risks oversimplifying a complex issue that could lead to misguided blame and sensationalized media coverage, potentially triggering copycat behavior.
The focus should not be on assigning fault, but on offering compassionate support and proactive prevention strategies.
Fortunately, the CDC research provides a roadmap for action that may be adopted locally if they are not yet being incorporated one way or another by local school authorities.
It said schools can implement comprehensive bullying prevention programs, foster empathetic and inclusive school climates, and equip educators with the tools to identify and address early signs of distress in both victims and perpetrators.
Likewise, parents must be empowered to create open and supportive home environments where their children feel comfortable sharing their struggles. Building strong communication bridges can help identify vulnerabilities and provide timely interventions.
Mental health resources must be readily available and accessible to all youth, with an emphasis on removing stigma and encouraging help-seeking. Here, Republic Act 11959, signed in August by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., may help.
The law mandates the establishment of regional specialty centers within existing regional hospitals of the Department of Health that should include the provision of mental health support services and counseling.
RA 11959, as pointed out by Senator Go, should be aligned with the Department of Education's anti-bullying programs through its Learner Rights Protection Office and Bureau of Learners Support Services.
Addressing the issue of bullying and suicide demands a comprehensive, collaborative approach. It requires moving beyond simplistic notions of cause and effect to fully understand the circumstances that contribute to such tragedies.
By fostering kindness, understanding, and proactive support systems, we can turn the tide of despair and empower our youth to navigate life's challenges with resilience and hope.
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