He was badgered for money, forced to give his baon, or beaten up in the restroom.

The sad thing is that, this kind of bullying in school is becoming more common. A US study revealed that 77 percent of students are being bullied mentally, verbally, or physically by their peers.

Filipino children are equally exposed, if not more at risk, to bullying since Filipino parents often disregard bullying as merely a painful rite of passage.

Fortunately, the pervasive bullying in schools today may be alarming, but some institutions are fighting back.

Dr. Leticia Peñano-Ho, top clinical counseling psychologist and former dean of the UP College of Education, has had decades of experience counseling students, some of whom have been traumatized by bullying.

"School bullying was not taken too seriously then," explains Dr. Ho. "It was only after the ‘70s that bullying was addressed in a new light and people started to become more aware of the issue. School administrators, especially abroad, have since taken measures and installed policies in institutions such as schools to address the problem."

Bullying is a willful, intentional, and conscious desire by the bully to hurt another and put him or her under stress. It is a negative behavior intended to inflict injury or discomfort - psychological or physical - repeatedly.

Ask any child what a bully looks like, and he or she is likely to describe someone who is bigger and stronger. "Always, there is an imbalance of power," Dr. Ho confirms.

She explains that there are many forms of bullying -- verbal, physical and gestural types, and these three forms are further subdivided into direct or indirect bullying.

Direct forms of bullying are physical and verbal abuse like name–calling, while indirect bullying consists of spreading rumors, making anonymous hate phone calls, and deliberately excluding someone.

Of late, bullying takes another form via cyber bullying, a form of electronic violence and harassment that is even harder to stop.

Hear no evil, see no evil

Bullying problems tend to fester under the surface. Most children know when there’s bullying, but they don’t report it.

"Does bullying occur? Definitely. And it is getting more and more serious," Ho confirms. "It occurs for a number of reasons. Bullies want to feel power over someone who is disempowered and they do this to compensate for a lack of something. They also do this as attention–seeking measures. They do this because they don’t like being embarrassed; they do it because of jealousy; they also do it for fun. If this goes unchecked, damage to the victim may be irreversible, even fatal in extreme cases."

According to a US study, both bullies and those on the receiving end of bullying have difficulty adjusting to their environment both socially and psychologically.

Children who were bullied have greater difficulty making friends and poorer relationships with their classmates. The bullies were more likely to be involved in other problem behaviors and do more poorly academically. However, both the bullies and the bullied tend to experience social isolation.

The study have also concluded that the effects of bullying behavior carry into adulthood. People who were bullied as children are more likely to suffer from depression and low self–esteem as adults, and the people who bullied others when they were children are more likely to engage in criminal behavior later in life.

The fear of being harassed in school gets in the way of learning, and makes going to school a miserable experience. Being bullied can make children feel lonely, unhappy and unsafe. Children who are being bullied may develop anxiety, nervousness and even nightmares.

School responsibility

Here in the Philippines, there is very little being done about the problem, Dr. Ho reports.

"Compared to our Asian neighbors such as Japan and Singapore, which have instituted strong and widespread anti-bullying measures in their schools, the Philippines has had very few. It is something that is swept under the rug. More often, teachers just pretend it didn’t happen and hope for everything to go away in time, which is tragic because bullying is a serious issue," she said.

Philippine schools, she says, keep quiet about incidences of bullying because it rocks the boat and because they have no programs about it.

Furthermore, children often don’t tell their parents because they’re ashamed. Parents sometimes encourage their children to fight back or to work it out among themselves.

School bullying is everyone’s business, says Dr. Ho.

"Our schools will have to work on their administration, management, teachers, parents and students so everyone may be made aware of issues like this. Schools must have anti-bullying policies and policies to inform parents and enlist their help in dealing with incidents concerning their children," she adds.

In considering a school for your child, parents should ask the principal if it has an anti-bullying policy. If it does, ask how well it works. If you are told "We don’t have that problem here," don’t believe it because the problem exists.

Schools have a duty to ensure that their students have a safe learning environment. School staff should investigate the bullying immediately. After investigating, they should inform the parents or guardian what they plan to do about it.