Reform Bullies and Protect Their Victims

Reform Bullies and Protect Their Victims
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
December 28, 2010

School bullying has become a matter of public attention. Everyone considers the problem serious. Everyone agrees on the need for increased prevention. Given such a widespread consensus, the government agencies responsible should immediately look into the matter, and establish mechanisms to prevent bullying. After all, our childrens' development is not something that can wait.

In fact, bullying reflects the dark side of human nature. Education is part of a child's socialization process. Education inculcates self-restraint, respect for others, and the need to abide by certain norms. Anyone who has read the novel, "The Lord of the Flies," knows how children left to run amok, can degenerate into cruelty and barbarism. The campus is a place where children must be educated. It must correct deviant behavior. It must not become a place in which children are subjected to the law of the jungle. It must not become a killing field in which some children are destroyed.

Campuses will always have bullies. Students will always have conflicts. Students will always be subject to ostracism. Recent examples of campus bullying however, suggest some worrying trends.

One. The level of violence has escalated. Many incidents of abuse are quite violent and cruel. They resemble incidents from movies. They have already reached the level of indictable criminal offenses.

Two. Incidents of sexual assault have increased. Many bullying incidents, particularly those with female victims, involve sexual violence. Victims are stripped of their clothing and photographed naked in obscene poses. They are subjected to sexual assault using bottles, and photographs of them are distributed.

Three. Incidents of teenage girls engaging in bullying behavior have increased. Incidents of bullying by girls were once rare. Incidents were mostly verbal attacks or social ostracism. Recently however, the incidence of bullying by female students has increased, and so has the level of violence.

Four. Gangs and illegal drugs have cast a shadow over schools, complicating matters. Many bullies, on and off campus, are gang members. They engage in displays of machismo to impress their peers. Even teachers are intimidated.

Five. Bullying has entered the age of the Internet. The younger generation is intimately familiar with the Internet. Some bullies launch their attacks on the Internet. They spread rumors, isolating the victim. The harm inflicted upon their victims is every bit as great as direct physical harm. Their traumatic impact is increased by the effect of the Internet.

In particular, some bullies see the Internet as a means of showing off. They triumphantly post their videos on the Internet. This amplifies the impact. Such videos wind up circulating on the Internet forever, making the victim's trauma even worse.

Such trends underscore the need for a strong response to campus bullying. In fact, the bullies, their victims, and bystanders, are all affected to a greater or lesser degree. The bullies need isolation and counseling. Their victims need counseling and protection. Bystanders may experience feelings of panic and impotence. They may be afraid they will become the next target. They too may have psychological scars. A bullying environment acclimate members to violence and bullying. They will lose their sense of right and wrong, of fundamental respect for human rights, and of the right to self-defense. All of these problems need to be addressed.

Most people focus on protecting the victims. They want to punish or even ostracize the bully. They want to make campuses safe again. But the source of bullying, the bully himself, is often himself the victim of simplistic labeling and stigmatization. He may have been depicted as a heinous criminal. His background, character, and motivation may be ignored.

But bullies are also children who must be educated. Their problems must also be addressed. They may include family dysfunction, inadequate parenting, and individual or peer group influences. If these children can be reformed, society may be spared future crimes. Give up on them prematurely, refuse to give them another chance, treat them as public enemies, consider only punishment or ostracism, and we will only push more people into the abyss. Our campuses and community will not necessarily be more secure.

As we focus on counseling students who engage in bullying, we must of course ensure that the campus is a safe environment for learning. Students and teachers must be protected by the law. They all have a right to a safe environment. Therefore we must establish an effective communication mechanism to deal with bullying. We already have mechanisms for the prevention of domestic violence, We have anti-fraud hotlines. We should have similar mechanisms to control bullying. Basically schools would be responsible. When the need arises, such agencies would provide assistance.

Most importantly, if schools are concerned about airing their dirty laundry, if they tolerate it or cover up bullying, children will lose their faith in adults and our social institutions. If the bullying reaches the level of an actionable criminal offense, then the police must be notified, and the matter dealt with according to the law. The law protects peoples' basic rights and interests. This line of defense must not be broken merely because the violations occured on campus.

One of the most urgent tasks is to establish a safe environment for children. We must protect children from bullying. We must not give up on children who engage in bullying. Protecting and educating the next generation is the responsibility of adults. On campus or off, we must not let our children down.

保護遭欺學生 也不放棄施霸的孩子
2010-12-28 中國時報

最近校園霸凌的問題成為各方議論的焦點，大家都覺得問題嚴重，也都認為必須加強防制，面對這樣強烈而一致的社會共識，政府相關部門應該迅速協調研究，盡早建立一個防止校園霸凌的機制，畢竟孩子的成長，是不能等待的。

其實校園霸凌只是人性黑暗面的自然反映，孩子在接受教育的社會化過程中，學習約束自我、尊重他人並服從規範。看過名著《蒼蠅王》的都知道，如果放任不管，小孩子也可能變得殘忍野蠻。但是我們也必須了解，校園是培育教化每個孩子的地方，也是矯正偏差行為的重要機會，既不是個任孩子弱肉強食的叢林，也不是要殲滅某些孩子的殺戮戰場。

雖說校園裡總會有些小霸王，或者同學之間會發生衝突或排擠事件，但檢視近來校園霸凌的情節，可以發現一些令人憂心的新趨勢：

第一、暴力程度加劇。許多事件中的凌虐行為相當暴力殘忍，宛如電影情節的翻版，已經達到觸犯刑法的程度。

第二、性侵行為增加。若干霸凌事件，尤其對象是女性時，往往伴隨著帶有強烈性侵犯意味的動作，例如脫衣、拍裸照、猥褻、以酒瓶性侵乃至散播不雅照片等。

第三、少女霸凌事件增加。過去少女較少出現霸凌行為，即使有，型態也多為言語攻擊或社交排擠，但近來女學生的霸凌行為不但增加，暴力程度也加劇。

第四、黑幫與禁藥的陰影進入校園，讓問題益發複雜。不少霸凌者是校園內外黑幫組織的成員，以叫囂鬥狠向同夥展威風，也讓老師心生畏懼。

第五、霸凌網路化。年輕世代的生活和網路密切結合，有些霸凌者是在網路上攻擊、造謠、孤立受害者，對當事人的傷害不亞於直接的肢體傷害，效果還因為網路效應而更加擴大。

尤其，若干霸凌者更把霸凌當成在網上出鋒頭的工具，因此還把影片洋洋得意地ＰＯ上網，傳閱者則推波助瀾，影片在網上全球永流傳，讓受害者的創傷雪上加霜。

上述趨勢，益發凸顯因應校園霸凌問題之迫切性。其實，施霸者、受害者、旁觀者，都受到了不同程度的影響。施霸者需要進行隔離與輔導，受害者需要諮商與保護。而週邊學生感受的恐慌、無力，害怕自己成為下一個目標，同樣會留下心理陰影。而在一個霸凌的環境裡，成員會逐漸習慣暴力欺凌的行為，對何謂不當侵犯、人的基本權益及自我保護的底線、觀念都可能出現偏差，凡此種種，都需要開導指引。

現在各方的討論，大多站在保護受害者的立場，希望懲罰甚至排除霸凌者，還校園一個安全乾淨的空間。但是，霸凌事件的源頭─霸凌者，卻往往被簡單地標籤化與汙名化，彷彿成了十惡不赦的罪犯，他們的成長背景、性格特質、行為動機，反而沒有得到關注。

但這些霸凌者，一樣是需要教育的孩子，他們的問題需要得到正視，原因也許包括家庭失能、教養不足、個性或同儕影響，如果能夠導正這些孩子的偏差，將來社會可能就少了幾椿犯罪事件。如果過早放棄最後拉他們一把的機會，直接把他們當成全民公敵，討之伐之懲處之驅逐之，可能只是把更多人推到墮落黑界，校園與社會都未必能更安全。

在關注於輔導施霸學生的同時，我們當然也必須確保校園是一個安全的學習環境。無論是學生還是老師，在法律保護下，都有權利在一個安全平靜的環境裡生活。因此，一定要建立起有效的霸凌通報處理機制。現在我們已經有防治家暴專線、反詐騙專線，對於校園霸凌，也應該有這樣一個防治機制。基本上由校方負責，必須時再請相關單位協助。

最重要的是，如果校方擔心家醜外揚，予以姑息或掩蓋，孩子會失去對大人、社會體制與價值的信任。如果霸凌行為已經嚴重到了違法的程度，當然必須報警，依照法律程序來處理。法律是保障人民基本權益的防線，這道防線不能一碰到校園就斷了線。

現在的當務之急，是還給孩子一個安全的環境。除保護孩子不受欺凌，也不能放棄施霸的孩子。保護與教育下一代，是我們大人的責任，無論在校園內還是校園外都不該辜負了孩子。