Proposed Anti-bullying law to address bullying in schools

Contributed photo
Contributed photo

THE proposed Anti-Bullying Ordinance in Davao City wants to address the capabilities of schools to provide appropriate psychosocial interventions for students involved in bullying, according to ordinance author Councilor Enzo Villafuerte.

This follows after Villafuerte said on January 11 that school management came forward to his office about the challenge of handling and counseling the mental issues of students.

“Ang problema lang, kay ginasalo ng mga counselor ang problema sa mga estudyante, makuha na pud nila tanan ang problems mao na dili mag dugay ang mga counselor sa ilaha (The problem is the counselors become mentally affected with the problems of the students that’s why not all counselors stay),” Villafuerte said during an interview with the Davao City Disaster Radio.

He said not all schools experience the same but he said there is a shortage of counselors capable of providing appropriate psycho-interventions while some schools might lack a psychosocial program for their students.

In a previous interview with SunStar Davao, Department of Education in Davao Region (DepEd-Davao) spokesperson Jenielito Atillo said the department follows Republic Act No. 10627 “An act requiring all elementary and secondary schools to adopt policies to prevent and address the act of bullying in their institutions” to address bullying in schools.

However, even though existing systems are in place by the DepEd, Villafuerte said the national law does not cover lower schools like kindergarten and higher levels such as colleges and universities where bullying can also exist.

Thus, the creation of the City Anti-Bullying Council under the proposed ordinance will take over in cases when the schools can no longer handle or provide the appropriate interventions including psychosocial mediation.

Villafuerte said they are also working with the Philippine Mental Health Association (PMHA) to provide their services.

“During the committee hearings, nag pledge ang PMHA na if naa kinahanglan og counseling, pwede muduol sa ilaha (the PMHA pledged that if counseling is needed, we can come to them). Kana gyod ang kinahanglan nato kay need pud og mental health break ang atong mga guidance counselors (That is what we need because our guidance counselors need a mental health break too),” he said.

Currently, the proposed Anti-Bullying Ordinance of Davao City is expecting a second hearing with the 20th City Council.

Other than resolving and proving interventions for bullying cases in schools, the ordinance also aims to address bullying in more professional settings such as the workplace. It will also track the statistics of bullying cases in the city.

“Mahibalan pud nato kung pila ba gyod ang gina-bully diri sa Davao City (We would know just how many are being bullied). The City Anti-Bullying Council will require na mag submit ang mga establishments og mga resolved and unresolved cases para makitan nato ang statistics (all establishments to submit a number of resolved and unresolved cases so we could see the statistics),” Villafuerte said. ICM

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