Monday, May 21, 2007
Personal response 4
Personal response
Newspaper article 3
She Shames Daughter in Public
The New Paper on Sunday
20 May 2007 (page 6)
-issues regarding teenagers
“I Engaged in Bullying Behaviour. I Got Suspended From School… Don’t Be Like Me. Stop Bullying.” – strong words coming from a soon-to-be teenager, and perhaps a harsher punishment from that of her mother.
Bullying rears its ugly head ever so often here in Singapore, as in various parts of the world. It is important to understand that bullying is usually brought about through inferiority, or cowardice, where the bully often picks on the more helpless victim who would not stand a chance. However, in this case, such bullying was brought about due to instigation. Therefore, our main focus we ought to take away from this article is not the concept of bullying as a problem very much apparent amongst teenagers, but rather the implications and severity of bullying.
A 12 year old girl was suspended from school after she bullies a fellow student over racist comments, but her mother was not satisfied, to say the least. She was made to spend 4 days in front of various California schools to shed some light on her experience on bullying. In her perspective, this might be perceived as a rather cruel or overly-harsh form of punishment, given the fact that she was not even a teenager. However, I would have to agree and in fact commend her mother for taking this extra step in curbing the development of bullying across California, and the world.
In Singapore specifically, forms of bullying can exist in 2 main forms: verbal and physical - both as emotionally painful for the victim subjected to the bullying. Armed with the tendency to pick on the weaker and more-composed targets, bullying is never fair game. Tragically, bullying has often been overlooked. In the view point of the victim, bullying can greatly diminish one’s self-esteem, not to mention confidence. Hence, there is an urgent need to prevent such bullying cases from happening.
There is a need to empathize with the bully, since we have already discussed on the implications of the victim. It seems that though bullying is rather offensive in nature, the bully is actually on a defensive stance as the act of bullying, as mentioned earlier, is due to inferiority, and can be seen as a cry for attention. The writer intended to put across the idea that bullying can take up all forms, and it should never be condoned.
Ultimately, bullying is a subtle yet damaging form of aggression in the societal construct of our nation. I would suggest more open discussions on the topic in schools and institutions to better address the problem of bullying. On the individual level, if we were to witness the act of bullying, we should take a firm stance on the situation and not brush it aside, but instead resolve the issue before it develops into something more serious. I would also encourage all parents to learn from Miasha’s mother, should their kid be involved in bullying. Only then, can we stop bullying altogether.
Newspaper article 3
She Shames Daughter in Public
The New Paper on Sunday
20 May 2007 (page 6)
-issues regarding teenagers
“I Engaged in Bullying Behaviour. I Got Suspended From School… Don’t Be Like Me. Stop Bullying.” – strong words coming from a soon-to-be teenager, and perhaps a harsher punishment from that of her mother.
Bullying rears its ugly head ever so often here in Singapore, as in various parts of the world. It is important to understand that bullying is usually brought about through inferiority, or cowardice, where the bully often picks on the more helpless victim who would not stand a chance. However, in this case, such bullying was brought about due to instigation. Therefore, our main focus we ought to take away from this article is not the concept of bullying as a problem very much apparent amongst teenagers, but rather the implications and severity of bullying.
A 12 year old girl was suspended from school after she bullies a fellow student over racist comments, but her mother was not satisfied, to say the least. She was made to spend 4 days in front of various California schools to shed some light on her experience on bullying. In her perspective, this might be perceived as a rather cruel or overly-harsh form of punishment, given the fact that she was not even a teenager. However, I would have to agree and in fact commend her mother for taking this extra step in curbing the development of bullying across California, and the world.
In Singapore specifically, forms of bullying can exist in 2 main forms: verbal and physical - both as emotionally painful for the victim subjected to the bullying. Armed with the tendency to pick on the weaker and more-composed targets, bullying is never fair game. Tragically, bullying has often been overlooked. In the view point of the victim, bullying can greatly diminish one’s self-esteem, not to mention confidence. Hence, there is an urgent need to prevent such bullying cases from happening.
There is a need to empathize with the bully, since we have already discussed on the implications of the victim. It seems that though bullying is rather offensive in nature, the bully is actually on a defensive stance as the act of bullying, as mentioned earlier, is due to inferiority, and can be seen as a cry for attention. The writer intended to put across the idea that bullying can take up all forms, and it should never be condoned.
Ultimately, bullying is a subtle yet damaging form of aggression in the societal construct of our nation. I would suggest more open discussions on the topic in schools and institutions to better address the problem of bullying. On the individual level, if we were to witness the act of bullying, we should take a firm stance on the situation and not brush it aside, but instead resolve the issue before it develops into something more serious. I would also encourage all parents to learn from Miasha’s mother, should their kid be involved in bullying. Only then, can we stop bullying altogether.
# posted by Kris @ 5:01 AM 
