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There Is No Quick Fix For School Bullying

Sep 02, 2025

Malaysia needs to adopt a comprehensive strategy to combat school bullying.  

A group of child NGOs and activists says this is necessary, because of how deeply rooted bullying is within our society. 

One of its members, Dato’ Dr Amar Singh pointed told us how widespread the problem is.  

"Local studies showed that 75% of our children are worried about being bullied in schools. The data also shows that many are bullied, but only a minority are reported and only the most severe and life-threatening cases appear in our media. Also don’t forget some of our children get bullied more, especially those who look different or have a disability."  

Recently, there have been calls to set up a specific anti-bullying law, while the Cabinet is setting up a special multi-agency committee to discuss the problem.  

It will, among other things, consider a proposal to have a dedicated tribunal to handle school bullying cases.  

However, Dr Amar Singh warned that tougher punishments alone are not enough..  

"I’m not sure we need anti-bullying legislation. It would be too hard to enforce. A bullying tribunal may sound useful, but it won’t be effective in dealing with the huge problem of bullying in our schools."  

Instead, the group is advocating a more holistic approach, that involves a multi-tiered system of prevention and support strategies that involves ALL stakeholders...  

"Effective bullying prevention programmes usually involve a multi-tiered system of support that includes the use of universal and selected targeted prevention strategies that have the capacity to change with data and evidence. Most importantly, they involve children in collaborative problem-solving."   

He says the First Tier should focus on prevention efforts in schools, including having clear anti-bullying rules, the teaching of empathy and conflict resolution and improved training for teachers.  

Tier 2 offers targeted support, focusing on helping students who are at risk of being bullied, as well as the bullies themselves. Such help typically includes training in social skills, empathy, and managing emotions.  

And the Third Tier focuses on intensive help, which includes counselling for chronic bullies and their victims, as well as support for their families.  

One specific area of this tier is identifying why certain students resort to bullying, and figuring out if it is tied to abuse at home.  

Simply put, Dr Amar says the issue of school bullying cannot be dealt with without the support of every single member of the community...  

"There is no quick fix, there are no simple solutions. We have to invest the hard work to reform our systems and society and make ourselves more inclusive and accepting of diversity."  

This, following several high profile school bullying cases across the country, including the death of 13-year-old Zara Qairina, who was allegedly bullied at her religious school in Sabah.