Dubai: Zayed University’s College of Natural and Health Sciences organised an awareness campaign on bullying on Thursday, coinciding with the UAE’s first Emirati Children’s Day.
With the theme ‘Stop bullying — Stand up and Speak out,’ the campaign was held together with the Student Counselling Centre.
During the campaign, attendees were showed the different forms of bullying, its impact on the victim’s behaviour and discussed preventive measures to tackle the issue.
“We are seeking to increase the awareness levels on such an aggressive behaviour to educate the students about the possible interventions,” said Prof Fares Howari, dean of the College of Natural and Health Sciences (CNHS) at Zayed University.
Students took a pledge against bullying and carried different posters and signs during a march to decry the behaviour.
Dr Dalia Haroun, assistant professor at the College of Natural and Health Sciences, said that according to the UAE Global School Health Survey (GSHS), a recent international report on bullying conducted across 47 countries estimated that on average 29 per cent of students report being bullied on a monthly basis.
“The figure for the UAE with 31 per cent was slightly higher than the international average,” Dr Haroun said.
“The most common forms of bullying among school students from grade six to nine are hitting, kicking, pushing, locking others indoors, other than verbal abuse. This is a serious issue, especially when bullied victims had increased stress and a reduced ability to concentrate and are at risk for substance abuse, aggressive behaviour and suicide attempts.”
She mentioned that her team has been working in collaboration with major educational authorities in the UAE and the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood to reduce bullying among children in both public and private schools, particularly focusing on secondary level students across the UAE.
“Data was gathered over two consecutive academic years. Students received pre-academic year surveys, which collected information on how they felt in schools, the number of times they got bullied, list incidents and their reactions.”
Towards the end of the school year, the same surveys were redistributed to note any student behavioural changes.
Child Health Nutrition Consultant from Unicef, Ola Elsaleh, mentioned that the project was implemented in over 20 schools in its first phase targeting 1,793 students, the second phase included over 2,200 students in 24 schools.
