DepEd urges schools to make anti-bullying panels 'functional'
Published Jan 2, 2020 12:00 am
By Ina Hernando-Malipot
To address increasing incidents of bullying, particularly online, the Department of Education (DepEd) urged stakeholders to make existing Child Protection Committees (CPC) in schools “100 percent functional and operational.”
Department of Education (MANILA BULLETIN)
“Theoretically, there should be a committee in every school but in reality, we have to make these committees a hundred percent functional,” said Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Josephine Maribojoc in an earlier press conference.
DepEd Order No. 40, series 2012 or the DepEd Child Protection Policy has institutionalized zero tolerance against any form of violence against the child and provided for the establishment of a CPC in all public and private schools.
Maribojoc noted that the DepEd has a policy directing all public and private schools to create their respective CPCs. “We have a policy that every school should have a CPC, including private schools, how functional and operational these committees are, this is something that we need to work on,” she said.
The CPC, Maribojoc added, is composed not only of DepEd personnel but also of parents, school officials, and representatives from the local government or barangay. “We really need to work together. Even the composition of that committee says that fighting bullying should involve multiple stakeholders.”
Maribojoc explained that DepEd has also been “discussing with various stakeholders how to make these committees functional” and capacitating both teachers and learners by incorporating in the curriculum topics on social media responsibility and ethics.
Addressing online or cyberbullying, Maribojoc admitted, is challenging for DepEd. “The difficulty with cyberbullying is that the bullying happens in a borderless world and the children are not supervised 24/7 when they go to the Internet world.”
Parents and teachers, she added, cannot just “build fences around” children to protect them from the dangers of the cyberworld.
For Maribojoc, the “best defense” against cyberbullying is to teach children life skills and to make them aware that they have a right not to be bullied. “They also have to know that if there’s a bullying incident - they should first stop, think, and report to an adult that he or she had been bullied and to block the bullying person from their accounts or social media platform.”
She added that they need to train the teachers first. Currently, DepEd has a program on cybersafety. “We’re training our guidance counselors or teachers, school heads on how to handle cyberbullying.”
Maribojoc said that DepEd has also integrated digital literacy in the curriculum, particularly social media ethics, principles and practices. “These are taught not just in our IT subjects but also in our values subject so children will learn not only to protect themselves but also not to harm other children.”
Department of Education (MANILA BULLETIN)
“Theoretically, there should be a committee in every school but in reality, we have to make these committees a hundred percent functional,” said Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Josephine Maribojoc in an earlier press conference.
DepEd Order No. 40, series 2012 or the DepEd Child Protection Policy has institutionalized zero tolerance against any form of violence against the child and provided for the establishment of a CPC in all public and private schools.
Maribojoc noted that the DepEd has a policy directing all public and private schools to create their respective CPCs. “We have a policy that every school should have a CPC, including private schools, how functional and operational these committees are, this is something that we need to work on,” she said.
The CPC, Maribojoc added, is composed not only of DepEd personnel but also of parents, school officials, and representatives from the local government or barangay. “We really need to work together. Even the composition of that committee says that fighting bullying should involve multiple stakeholders.”
Maribojoc explained that DepEd has also been “discussing with various stakeholders how to make these committees functional” and capacitating both teachers and learners by incorporating in the curriculum topics on social media responsibility and ethics.
Addressing online or cyberbullying, Maribojoc admitted, is challenging for DepEd. “The difficulty with cyberbullying is that the bullying happens in a borderless world and the children are not supervised 24/7 when they go to the Internet world.”
Parents and teachers, she added, cannot just “build fences around” children to protect them from the dangers of the cyberworld.
For Maribojoc, the “best defense” against cyberbullying is to teach children life skills and to make them aware that they have a right not to be bullied. “They also have to know that if there’s a bullying incident - they should first stop, think, and report to an adult that he or she had been bullied and to block the bullying person from their accounts or social media platform.”
She added that they need to train the teachers first. Currently, DepEd has a program on cybersafety. “We’re training our guidance counselors or teachers, school heads on how to handle cyberbullying.”
Maribojoc said that DepEd has also integrated digital literacy in the curriculum, particularly social media ethics, principles and practices. “These are taught not just in our IT subjects but also in our values subject so children will learn not only to protect themselves but also not to harm other children.”