The Republic Act No. 10627, or the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013, was passed to safeguard schoolchildren from possible acts of violence, including bullying that may be applied to them in the country. Olweis (1993) stated that a pupil must be frequently exposed to unfavorable peer behavior for bullying to occur. Bullying is categorized into four different types, physical, verbal, emotional, and relational (Sanapo, 2017). Examples of bullying are unwanted physical contact, any action that harms a victim’s psyche or mental condition, any defamatory remarks or charges that put the victim through unnecessary emotional hardship and cyberbullying, or bullying that takes place through technology, relational bullying that may be done in the form of spreading rumors and lies about the victim in order to make others avoid socializing with him/her (Wang et al., 2019).

            In the study of Sanapo, results exposed the prevalent bullying happening in some schools in the Philippines. Creating anti-bullying initiatives for schools would be very beneficial. Teaching and non-teaching personnel should receive training on how to spot bullies among learners and how to deal with them by speaking with both the bullies and the victims equally or by reporting the bullies to their counselors for appropriate advice, educators should also address the fundamental cause of bullying.

Because young people look up to them, it could also be advantageous for all educational institutions in the nation to ask for assistance from locals such as parish priests, elders from the village, and instructors of the catechism. Last but not least, include the students in the creation of anti-bullying initiatives so they may be aware of their rights and also learn how to defend themselves.

By: Mrs. Jennie Blanca B. Miranda | Teacher II | Araling Panlipunan Department – Bataan National High School | Balnga City, Bataan