Bullying epidemic in Thai schools among worse in world
I fully agree with the action taken by parents of the 10-year-old autistic girl who was bullied at a Phayao school.
The parents plan to charge the eight older girls who pulled their daughter’s hair until she cried out, kicked her and put their feet on her neck and face.
Bullying in Thai schools is a major epidemic; the Department of Mental Health reports that 600,000 students are bullied here each year – the second highest in the world.
The Phayao bullies should be sentenced to community service, working with autistic youth so they learn about how they’re harming their victims and how to repair the damage, until they have in-depth knowledge on bullying and autism. Then, each bully should address the morning assembly of 10 Phayao schools, showing the two clips of her action and describing how she aided in severely harming the helpless victim and how she’s now helping to make amends. A Department of Mental Health child psychologist should answer questions and evaluate each presentation.
Khun Thiwa, the victim’s mother, alleges that school director Nantapol Fooseekul tried to sweep the incident under the rug by giving her Bt4,000 and telling others that she and the bullies had agreed that the matter was settled. Nantapol denies this. If the Ministry of Education finds the claim is true, it should severely discipline the school director for not seeking to protect his charges against other bullies.
The Education Ministry must work urgently with the Mental Health Department to prevent bullying in our schools. Let this case awaken us to what must be done by both authorities and, most importantly, students and their parents to cleanse us of such despicable behaviour.
Burin Kantabutra
