Retelling an incident of bullying repeatedly could affect the child badly since it forces the child to relive the moments over and over again, a Dubai based psychologist said.
Dr Devika Singh, psychologist at the Dubai Herbal and Treatment Center, said that due to their highly imaginative nature children may add untrue details.
Singh, an active member of the Dubai-based volunteer organisation, Your Own Understanding (YOU), was speaking at the sidelines of a workshop organised recently by You to educate 12 to 15 year olds about combating bullying.
YOU hopes to make a difference by offering similar free workshops introducing life-skills to youngsters. The children are then asked to ‘pay it forward' by doing a good deed for someone else.
"Children may blame themselves when they are harassed by anyone. Like children, parents often struggle with the situation and may hold children responsible for the event," she said.
Singh called on other volunteer organizations to also focus on the issue, considering its impact in the lives of children.
According to a school counsellor the ideal way of handling bullying in schools in case of a complaint would be first to be taken up by the concerned subject and class teacher.
Further the matter could be raised to the supervisor who could issue a formal warning which should be documented and signed. Parents should receive a copy and maybe requested to attend an interview. The consequences of lack of improvement could then be explained to the student and the parent. If needed the counsellor needs to be involved. In the next stage, the supervisor requests a report from teachers for evidence. A formal interview is held between student, parents and supervisor and the student will be informed that they are running the risk of exclusion from school. Later, a contract stating the code of conduct with targets and a deadline for improvements could be signed.
— R.A.
