By Juju Manubag-Empuerto
CEBU CITY, March 18
(PIA) -- Officers from the Philippine Mental Health Association (PMHA) Cebu
Chapter in a recent Kapihan forum here shared tips on how parents and teachers
can deal with cyberbullies and their victims in schools.
Bullies focus their attack on the reputation, appearance, and opinion of
victims, said Dr. Glenda Basubas, PMHA Cebu Chapter chairperson.
The bullies either spread images that have been Photoshopped, are rumor
mongering, and spreading private videos primarily through social media
platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, and cellphones.
Stop Cyberbullying Philippines conducted in the last quarter of 2012 an
informal survey on the cyberbullying situation in the Philippines, said
Basubas.
According to the survey results, women are more susceptible to cyberbullying
considering that 57 percent of them are most of the time online on the
Internet.
On the other hand, Dr. Pureza Oñate, past president of the Philippine
Psychiatric Association and a board director of PMHA-Cebu, said that parents
and teachers can play a crucial role in preventing, identifying, and stopping
bullying by creating stress-free environments at home and at school.
If a child doesn’t want to go to school, it’s already a sign that the child is
being bullied, said Oñate.
She said most bullying occurs when there are no adults around.
Oñate said that parents must take steps to stop the bullying. They must talk to
the child about bullying because talking about the problem can be a huge stress
reliever to one who is being bullied.
Second, parents can seek help for the child like his teachers and guidance
counselors to let them know that the child is being bullied. The child should
not handle the bullying alone. He must be helped, Oñate said.
She highlighted that bullying is a universal problem. She recommended that
parenting should be integrated in the college curriculum and one must learn the
scientific way of parenting.
When these bullies are transformed, they can become good leaders, she added.
(rmn/JSME-PIA7, Cebu)