Harps on the urgency of anti-bullying policy
By KATO P. LADAN, Kaduna
Following the increase in the cases of deadly bullying in several Nigerian public and private schools in recent times, the Executive Director of Abuja-based United Women Voice International Foundation, Favour Henshaw, has called on the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, to rise to the occasion saying his silence is no longer golden.
Henshaw, who was visibly angry over cases of bullying during an interview with this correspondent in Abuja said, the Minister was expected to have championed a course of action on how to address the unfortunate development in schools across the country.
The criminologist and mental health expert described bullying as a “pervasive issue”, a “terrible cankerworm” that is eating deep Nigerian societal fabric.
To her, “It is becoming one issue too many. The latest happened at the Air Force Secondary School in Kaduna. So, it is beyond what it used to be. It has generated violent behaviour among our children which is not helping us.
“We are trying to create a society where empathy and kindness thrive and if we must create such society devoid of aggression and violence as it is now, then we must learn to create aggressive awareness on the menace that bully has become”, she believed.
According to her, based on her organisation’s observation over time, Nigeria lost a child to bullying every 10 days, “the cases are too numerous to mention”.
“There are so many silent cases that couldn’t get to the media. We have done awareness in more than ten schools here in FCT. What these wrote in the forms they were given was unheard of.
“It is even more painful that the Minister of Education has not come out to say anything about this issue since we have been hearing about it.
“We need to ask relevant government ministries, departments, and agencies questions. Will the education minister tell us that he was not aware of one death too many over bullying?
“Have the Minister of Women Affairs and Child Development not heard of the current menace of bullying in our schools? She asked.
She reiterated the urgency of the anti-bullying policy in Nigeria and the need to create a school curriculum that would capture the policy in schools.
“Nigeria is due for anti-bullying law. We need to create a school curriculum that will capture anti-bullying policy at schools. That is our major aim.
On what her organisation was doing, she said, “We are generating a therapy workbook that will help children because bullying is not just aggression but something that started from somewhere which is childhood trauma. This comes as a result of how a child is treated at home. Most of them that cannot be violent become vulnerable which the violent ones do take advantage of.
“Again, over-pampered children whose parents have lost control over. We are in a society that sees discipline as a bad thing. I’m not saying teachers should beat children to death in the name of discipline. Discipline is knowing that a child is doing wrong and correcting the child in love.
“So we have been trying to partner with the Federal Government through the Ministries of Education, Women Affairs and Child Development, Youth, and National Human Rights Commission. We are also working with the media and, the National Orientation Agency to intensify awareness on this issue.
“We have also sent letters to the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and other legal organisations and the private sector because the message needs to urgently get to the people. Bullying is creating an unsafe environment for children in school.
“No parent wants to see his child being killed just because he or she wants to get educated. Just last week, I overheard two teachers discussing bullying where one child inflicted serious injury on another at a local school. So, it is serious and all hands must be on deck to nip it in the bud”, she added.
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