PUTRAJAYA, 20 November 2018 – A national Anti-Bullying Law. That’s what 7 in 10 students say they need to feel safe, according to the Children4Change Survey released today in conjunction with World Children’s Day.
Read the Report: WCD C4C 2018 Survey Report – Bullying
The survey reached over 2,000 kids under 18 from across Malaysia – both online and offline – under the Kindness Project by the Ministry of Education Malaysia, WOMEN:girls and UNICEF.
Bullying happens everywhere
No child is untouched by bullying. Children shared that they’ve either seen it, experienced it, or done it. Verbal and emotional bullying were the most common.
Three out of four students said they’ve been called mean or humiliating names. Shockingly, 64% admitted they’ve bullied someone else – or maybe have.
Children didn’t hold back. One boy said he saw “someone being told to kill themselves because they suck”. A teenage girl disclosed someone took sexual photos of her without permission.
School should feel safe – but it doesn’t
Schools are the main place where bullying happens. Eighty-three per cent (83%) of victims say they were bullied at school. Half said it happened in the classroom – the one place that should always feel safe. School hostels are another hotspot, especially for children living far from home.
“We often downplay bullying and tell children to ‘just deal with it.’ But that silence only makes things worse,” said Marianne Clark-Hattingh, UNICEF Representative to Malaysia. “We need to make it safe for children to speak up and know they’ll be supported. This survey is a wake-up call for all of us. Every child deserves to feel safe and heard – not just today, but every day.”
The emotional toll is huge. One boy from Johor said bullying destroyed his self-confidence. Children said they feel angry, sad or depressed when they’re bullied – some even shared suicidal thoughts. One teenage girl said: “I feel like I want to kill myself. I’ve tried once in my school toilet when I was in Form 1.”
What students are saying
Here’s what the survey found:
- 64% admitted they’ve bullied someone – 21% said “Yes”, 43% said “Maybe”.
- 83% of victims said bullying happened in school. 54% said it happened inside classrooms.
- 58% have seen bullying online.
- 75% said they felt angry or sad after being bullied or seeing someone else get bullied.
- Bystanders said they often feel scared that they’ll be next.
- Most students respond in healthy ways – talking to teachers, friends, or parents. But younger students (under 12) are more likely to tell a teacher (69%) than older teens (38%).
So what do kids want? They want action.
Almost 70% students said Malaysia needs an Anti-Bullying Law.
69% want schools to run more awareness and education programmes.
67% want every school to have a clear anti-bullying policy.
“Getting young people to reconsider their electronic communication habits is crucial and more and more necessary especially for a better sense of self-worth. Letting young people seed the idea of kindness themselves to overcome bullying is a proactive movement of young people wanting to be more invested in the environments that they are in,” said Low Ngai Yuen, President & Founder of WOMEN:girls.
World Children’s Day, celebrated every 20 November, is a day for kids, by kids. It marks the anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In Malaysia, it’s also a day to speak up – with #MalaysiaBiru pushing for every child’s right to be safe, seen and supported.
