In education or living their social life, all children want to be able to play together with their peers. By socializing, a child can develop basic human abilities as social beings. By socializing also a child can learn about many things. However, unfortunately, bullying behavior from the surrounding environment can make a child reluctant to socialize with their peers. This of course can interfere with the development of a child’s ability to interact with the surrounding environment. Sufari & Ekasari (2014) stated that according to Duke University research published May 12, 2014 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the impact of bullying in childhood can last a lifetime, both for victims and perpetrators of bullying themselves, as well as on the community. Young adults showing the long-term effects of bullying.

Bullying itself has a definition of aggressive behavior activity that is repeated, physically or mentally. Bullying can be classified as an individual’s behavior in a certain way to dominate others (gain power over others). This can include harassment or threats of verbal, physical violence or coercion and can be directed repeatedly against a specific victim, perhaps based on race, religion, gender, sexuality or ability. The habit of oppression can develop anywhere as long as there is interaction between humans, ranging from schools, workplaces, households, and other social environments (Erliman, et al, 2018).

Basically, according to the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia Article 28B paragraph (2) states that every child has the right to survive, grow and develop and is entitled to protection from violence and discrimination. This means that children’s lives should be guaranteed and free from bullying by the surrounding environment. But in fact there are still many cases of bullying that occur. In Indonesia alone, there were 1,480 cases of bullying that occurred in schools from 2011 to 2014 (Sufari & Ekasari, 2014). This certainly needs special attention for both parents and teachers. Because the impact caused by bullying can last a lifetime. Therefore, there must be a way to prevent this bullying case.

As if as an educational environment for children, they can do various ways so that bullying can be prevented. (Kowalski & Morgan, 2017) in Darmayanti, et al (2019) mentions that for prevention and intervention actions against bullying there are several points, namely: (1) Recognizing and realizing that the problem exists. Furthermore, developing intervention programs to deal with cases that have occurred (Kowalski & Morgan, 2017) (3) A climate of kindness, compassion, and empathy needs to be emphasized as the norm (Kowalski, et al., 2012; Simon & Olson, 2014). (4) Parents need to be actively involved in overcoming and solving bullying problems (Simon & Olson, 2014).

With the prevention, it is hoped that the number of bullying acts will decrease or even disappear. Because actually children are the future generation of a country so that their lives must be maintained in such a way so that they become a healthy generation both mentally, behaviorally and socially.

References:

Kementrian Pemberdayaan Perempuan dan Perlindungan Anak. (2016, June 15). BULLYING. Retrieved from https://kemenpppa.go.id/: https://kemenpppa.go.id/lib/uploads/list/8e022-januari-ratas-bullying-kpp-pa.pdf

Laurensius, d. (2018). Cyber Bullying Against Children in Indonesia. IConShel Psychology Journal, 05-06.

Rina Karmila, d. (Vol. VIII No. 3 2017). Faktor Yang Mempengaruhi Bullying Pada Anak Usia Sekolah Di Sekolah Dasar Kecamatan Syiah Kuala Banda Aceh. Idea Nursing Journal, 134-144.

Damayanti, dkk.,(2019). Bullying di Sekolah: Pengertian, Dampak, Pembagian dan Cara Menanggulanginya. Pedagogia Jurnal Ilmu Pendidikan, 55-66.