Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Fri, May 25, 2012
Archive Search

‘Hazing Hotline’ to Beat the Bullies With New Students in Their Sights
Elisabeth Oktofani | July 13, 2011

For high-school students such as these in Yogyakarta on Tuesday — made to wear distinctive headgear for the week to mark their status as newcomers to their school — the orientation period carries a risk of falling victim to bullying. (JG Photo/Boy T Harjanto) For high-school students such as these in Yogyakarta on Tuesday — made to wear distinctive headgear for the week to mark their status as newcomers to their school — the orientation period carries a risk of falling victim to bullying. (JG Photo/Boy T Harjanto)
Share This Page
2
2
0
2
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

tedjo
1:30pm Jul 13, 2011

Aside from protecting kids from bullying by their seniors,the students should be taught fairness too, in the sense of an eye for an eye.younger students ought to be taught to stand up to their seniors,even mete out the same treatment to them. Only then can we break the vicious circle


padt
7:05am Jul 13, 2011

A revenge period!!!! By seniors on juniors???? So much for logical education right from the start.

What did these new kids do to the seniors?

Oh yes, I know the answer, "But our seniors did it to us, so we want to take 'revenge' now on these kids."

Why? These little kids haven't done anything to you.

You didn't like it when it was done to you so why would you want to do it to others?

Its illogical.

These students need to be taught to break the cycle.

Besides, THAT this is happening in schools, including wearing ridiculous hats that single out new students, means that the teachers are either encouraging it or standing by and allowing it to happen by not intervening.

If this sort of behaviour is happening then every adult from the Minister for education down are complicit by not having the common sense or the courage to state quite firmly: There will be no initiation ceremonies or bullying in our schools. Any person who interferes with another student will be expelled and may expect criminal charges to be laid against them by parents.

I have seen enough bullying by teachers against students in Indonesia to realise that Indonesia is a socially backward country with a lot of not very intelligent people in positions of authority. It is also a country where irrational violence and frustration is always just simmering under the surface.

It is the result of a poorly educated populace in part. Indonesia is a country led by followers - with few independent thinkers.

That's why mob rule is the name of the game, even in schools. Bullying is unacceptable.Unless children are taught not to be bullies at school there is every chance they will continue to be so later in life.

only recently someone told me that his former boss would throw objects at his staff when he got angry.

I bet I know what he was doing in the first weeks of the new school year.

  • Previous
  • 1
  • Next

A little bit tubby. Spotty skin. Trousers half an inch too short. The wrong shoes. Just being one of the new kids.

It doesn’t take much for children to find ways to bully others, and with the school year beginning this week, the Indonesian Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) has opened a center specifically to deal with cases of bullying during new students’ orientation period, the worst time of the year for many.

“The new junior and senior high school student orientation period is often traditionally used as a revenge period, where violence by seniors on juniors, whether physical of mental, can have a traumatic effect on students,” KPAI chairwoman Maria Ulfah Anshor said, referring to the usually week-long hazing period endured by new first-year students.

The center, which opened on Monday, will remain in operation for a week, and will take complaints and reports on bullying at any school level. “If there is a bullying case during the new students’ orientation, they need to report it directly to us so we can follow up the case,” Maria said.

Reports can be phoned in or reported in person to the agency’s Menteng office or reported through the KPAI Web site. Maria said all reports would be followed up by analysts who would coordinate with the relevant government institutions, including the Education Ministry, to find a solution and prevent the problem recurring.

Bullying has only in recent years been taken seriously here, unlike in countries such as America or Japan where bullying is often cited in cases of student depression and suicide.

Sejiwa, a group that fights violence against children, recorded about 30 children committing or attempting suicide in the five years to 2005, with a similar frequency expected over the years since then.

The KPAI last year recorded more than 2,300 cases of physical, psychological and sexual violence against children, of which 300 were for bullying. However, a fall in the number of complaints of bullying — there were 498 in 2009, and 525 in 2008 — gives some indication that preventive action might be working.

Maria said the KPAI wanted to promote schools free of violence by either students or teachers.

She added that although rooting out bullying in private schools might be harder than in public schools, “we will coordinate with the related organizations, such as the Indonesian Teachers Union [PGRI] and the ministry of national education, to review the operational permit of the school.”

Mohammad Abduhzen, executive director of Paramadina University’s Institute for Education Reform, said student orientation was necessary, but that it should be supervised by teachers, not just older students, some of whom may seek to avenge humiliations they had once received as new students.
He added that the complaint center should remain open throughout the year.

“The lack of teachers in school to handle bullying cases often cause bullying cases to be forgotten and therefore bullying cannot be eradicated. It would be better if KPAI keeps the bullying complaint post open for the students."
It attributed the decline to raised public awareness of the problem.
To report bullying, visit the office at Jl Teuku Umar No. 10-12, Menteng, Central Jakarta, call 021 3190 1446, or fill in a web form at www.kpai.go.id