THE first Thursday of November is marked by Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) member states as International Day against Violence and Bullying at School including Cyberbullying. According to the UN agency, more than 30 percent of students worldwide have been victims of bullying.
In the Philippines alone, at least 17.5 million students have suffered from such oppression. On social media, incidents are on the rise, and the impact of bullying is graver.
Immediate detrimental effects of bullying range from stress to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, reduced educational achievement and suicide, among others.
These have economic costs to the individual, the family and society itself. Based on a 2022 study of 140,000 children bullied in Sweden (FRIENDS Report 2022), 10 percent of these children require specific interventions from public services in the long term. This will cost the Swedish economy $4.4 billion in a span of 30 years.
Based on another study in 2021 in Australia, addressing the adverse effects of bullying, such as anxiety and depressive disorders, has an annual cost of $508 million.
In the Philippines, there is no data to quantify it. Reduced educational achievement or dropping out of school due to bullying may help give an idea of the economic losses resulting from bullying. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority 2020 data, one out of four youth, between the ages 5 and 24, are out of school. In 2023, 18.6 percent of youth ages 5 to 24 are not attending school. Bullying accounts for 0.3 percent of students dropping out of school.
It seems insignificant at less than 1 percent, but the multiplier effect can be serious. Bullying has a long-lasting adverse impact on the physical and mental well-being of the victim and his/her family. Beyond this, the victim who drops out of school is usually faced with limited job opportunities or unstable careers that eventually lead to financial or economic exclusion or, worse, a cycle of extreme poverty.
A study using a 1958 British cohort data on the long-term economic impact associated with childhood bullying victimization revealed both men and women who experienced bullying as a child were less likely to be employed and accumulated less wealth and savings, compared to those who were not victims of bullying (Nicola Brimblecombe et al. Soc Sci Med 2018 July). Unemployment and low literacy arising from the long-term impact of bullying can both hinder society’s economic growth. This is just the economic picture of dropouts arising from bullying.
Most recently, the issue of bullying has come too close to home. I came across two families, one whose child suffered from bullying, and another whose child is experiencing it. In both cases, the immediate reaction is to take the child away from the environment of bullying. Sadly, for these parents, the better choice to ensure the safety of their children is for the child to permanently drop out or move on. The confidence in the system of zero tolerance to bullying is just not there.
Laws
It is promising to know that laws are in place, such as the Anti-bullying Act of 2013, and, most recently, the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act. It is, however, not just the accountability of the legislators or the government to ensure zero tolerance to bullying. Everyone is accountable to fast-track the efforts to eliminate bullying, and it all starts with education at home, within the community, at work and especially schools not to tolerate it.
It is about educating everyone on the value of kindness, to have zero tolerance on bullying, or, at the very least, not to be part of any bullying.
Griselda Gay Gloria-Santos is the chairman of the Financial Inclusion Committee of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines. She is also the regional director for Southeast Asia at Water.org, a global NGO co-founded by Matt Damon and Gary White. She holds an MBA degree from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of Water.org and Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines.
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