By: Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports
At 10:30 am at the Spring Singapore Auditorium
Mr Koh Choon Hui
Chairman, Singapore Children's Society
Professor Ho Lai Yun
Vice Chairman, Singapore Children's Society
Professor Donna Cross
Professor of Child and Adolescent Health at Edith Cowan University
Distinguished guests,
ladies and gentlemen,
This is an important Forum on a serious subject matter and I am glad to be able to join you to kick-start the discussions. Every child needs a safe, happy and fulfilling childhood so that he will grow up without any negative experience to affect his journey in life.
Bullying is a common problem faced by many children in Singapore and in other parts of the world. Research conducted by the Singapore Children's Society showed that 1 in 5 primary school students and 1 in 4 secondary school students were victims of school bullies. Bullying in schools and in the neighbourhood should be taken seriously; it is not a normal part of growing up and can have damaging consequences.
For example, I was told of an incident where a Primary 5 student Mary, was bullied by one of her classmates, Jane. This was because Jane was jealous of Mary's good academic results. By the way, these are not their real names. Jane, as a peer leader, would instruct Mary's friends to keep away from her. Otherwise Jane would not befriend them. Jane also started to bad-mouth Mary. Faced with peer pressure, Mary's friends started to move away from her. Jane's peer group would stare at Mary whenever Mary walked past. Mary then began crying everyday and had difficulties sleeping fearing that she had to go to school when she woke up. Her studies were affected too.
This is just an example of how bullying can affect a child's wellbeing and ability to cope in school. I am glad to hear that in Mary's case, her family members especially her mother played an active part in helping Mary seek professional help to overcome her difficulties. After a few sessions of listening to Mary and working out the issues, the social worker explored options with Mary to solving the problems. I am happy to hear that Mary soon became confident in facing up to the bullies and made new friends. She managed to focus on her studies and came in first in her final exams. This would not have been possible without the good work of the social worker and the support of the family.
As for the bullies, they too need help so that they do not continue to bully even more innocent children. With input from SCS, MOE has developed a Bullying Management Kit for all full-time school counselors to manage the problems faced by both the victims and the bullies. Later today, the Principal of Park View Primary School, Mdm Ong Lee Choo, will be sharing her experiences on a joint pilot project with SCS in creating a bully free environment.
As you can see, teachers and parents indeed play a crucial role in helping children who are bullied and in ensuring that children do not become bullies. We need to be available for the children and listen to their concerns. We should also take their problems seriously and do what is needed to help them. Hence I am glad to see so many educators, counsellors, social workers and parents here at today's forum. Your commitment is critical in providing the right learning environment in schools for our young ones.
In this regard, I am glad that the Bully-Free Programme is in place and has been expanding its reach since it was started by the Singapore Children's Society in 2004. Today, on average, the programme reaches out to 40 primary and secondary schools each year. This unique programme was highlighted in my Ministry's report on Singapore's child welfare and protection development from 2003 to 2007, which was submitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in January.
I applaud the campaign undertaken by Singapore Children's Society in advocating a bully-free environment. In the past 57 years, the Children's Society has come a long way in providing help and intervention for children and their families. Thank you for the good work. I wish all of you a fruitful discussion ahead.
Thank you.
MCYS SPEECH NO: 41/2009
DATE OF ISSUE: 06/06/2009