Department of Education

Jamiatul Philippine AL-Islamia

GRADUATE SCHOOL

NAME: Jasnema T. Solaiman

SUBJECT: Islamic concept in Education
Professor: Dr. Raisalam P. Maunti
Topic: Comprehensive Approach to guidance counselling:
*bullying
*grievance handling

WHAT IS BULLYING?

Bullying is any intentional aggressive behavior done by one or more individuals,

often repeatedly, to a person who is in a weaker position to defend himself or herself.
Experiencing bullying is associated with more absences, lower school satisfaction and
achievement, poor self-worth, and greater risk of mental health problems such as depression
and anxiety. Bullying also has long-term harmful effects to the perpetrator, such as persistent
antisocial and aggressive behavior. Bystanders who witness bullying can experience fear,
anxiety, and helplessness. The entire school environment is disrupted as well, as students may
feel unsafe and unsupported. Therefore, all parties involved in bullying need help: the victim,
the perpetrator, the bystanders, and the school system.

Bullying can be in the form of physical aggression (e.g., hitting, pushing), verbal (using
mean, hurtful or derogatory taunts and insults on others), relational (telling lies, spreading
gossip or harmful information to damage reputation), harassment and extortion (damaging
belongings; forcing others to give up their allowance; threatening others to do things)
and cyberbullying (online insults, slander, and harassment).

HOW OFTEN DOES BULLYING HAPPEN?

The National Baseline Study on Violence Against Children indicates that 3 out of 5 Filipino
children have experienced peer violence. A study done in 2011 among 1,278 Filipino high
school students in rural and urban schools in the Philippines showed that 51% reported having
experienced bullying at least once and only 17% said they never experienced any form of
bullying.[1] Bullying happens among students within classes, across different grade levels,
within the same and across different genders.2

WHY DOES BULLYING HAPPEN?

Bullying is a systemic problem, which means that there are family, peer group, school, and
sociocultural factors that perpetuate bullying. It is not solely rooted in the child, whose brain
and character are still developing and who is strongly influenced by his or her relationships and
environment.
 Perpetrators of bullying may be motivated by the need to be regarded as “cool”, or to have a
higher or more popular status. Students may also resort to bullying as a maladaptive way to
express anger, resolve conflict, retaliate for others’ wrongdoing, or to deal with their boredom
and “have fun”. They may have difficulty empathizing with others and establishing positive
peer relationships, and may have a history of troubled family relationships. 4

The 2011 study suggests that bullying is a cycle - majority of students who bully others report
being victimized. Family environment and peer groups are also factors: children whose parents
and friends model, tolerate, or encourage aggressive behaviors are more likely to engage in
aggressive acts towards others. Bullying is more likely to occur in schools where students’ and
teachers’ aggressive behaviors are tolerated; where anti-bullying policies and interventions are
lacking or unclear; and where social skills, empathy, and positive relationships are not actively
promoted in the school.3

WHAT CAN SCHOOLS DO TO PREVENT BULLYING?

The implementing rules and regulations of RA 10627 or the Anti-Bullying Act requires that
schools formulate, disseminate, and implement a comprehensive anti-bullying policy. The
policy should identify all forms of bullying as prohibited behaviors, procedures for secure
reporting and fair investigation, interventions to address the harmful effects of bullying on the
victim, remedial interventions to promote prosocial behaviors of perpetrators, appropriate
consequences or sanctions for the perpetrator, and school-wide prevention programs.

A holistic or whole-school approach to bullying prevention involves the participation of all

education stakeholders: from the school administrators who develop and implement policies
and protocols; to teachers, who are trained to manage classroom behaviors and integrate social -
emotional skills in class curricula; to students, who are educated on bullying and its effects and
are coached on how to respond when it happens; and parents, who are involved in school
initiatives and can reinforce the skills their children learn in school to prevent bullying. This
approach nurtures a positive school climate and is more effective than programs focusing only
on the victim and the perpetrator.

WHAT CAN PARENTS DO?

Studies indicate that bullying is associated with experiences of aggression in the family,
whether between parents, parents to child, or among siblings. By contrast, positive, non-violent
discipline and parenting that is both firm and caring reduces many risky behaviors among
children such as substance use and violence. Parents should model and encourage kindness,
helpfulness, and empathy in the home.

Parents need to listen to their children and take seriously reports of being bullied in school.
Children may not disclose experiences of bullying because they believe such reports may be
trivialized, seen to be their fault, or responded to in ways that may worsen rather than solve
their problems. There is thus a need for parents to learn how to respond competently to
bullying-related issues of their children. This may include engaging in teacher-parent
consultations, conflict resolution sessions, or constructive advocacy work.

ON SOCIAL MEDIA USE

We encourage the public to be careful about expressing their reactions online about events
involving minors, and forwarding information that may be inaccurate or without appropriate
context. Sharing of personal information, videos, and pictures of minors especially of a
malicious nature inflicts more harm on the victims and the perpetrators because the material
remains in the Internet long after the incident. Indeed, these forms of harassment are
comparable to bullying, the very behavior we advocate against.

Bullying is a systemic problem – we are all responsible for ensuring that Filipino children are
safe and protected wherever they are, including online.

Grievance may be any genuine or imaginary feeling of dissatisfaction or injustice which an

employee experiences about his job and it’s nature, about the management policies and
procedures. It must be expressed by the employee and brought to the notice of the management
and the organization.

Grievances take the form of collective disputes when they are not resolved. Also they will then
lower the morale and efficiency of the employees. Unattended grievances result in frustration,
dissatisfaction, low productivity, lack of interest in work, absenteeism, etc. In short, grievance
arises when employees’ expectations are not fulfilled from the organization as a result of which a
feeling of discontentment and dissatisfaction arises. This dissatisfaction must crop up from
employment issues and not from personal issues.

Grievance may result from the following factors-

a. Improper working conditions such as strict production standards, unsafe workplace, bad
relation with managers, etc.
b. Irrational management policies such as overtime, transfers, demotions, inappropriate
salary structure, etc.
c. Violation of organizational rules and practices

The manager should immediately identify all grievances and must take appropriate steps to
eliminate the causes of such grievances so that the employees remain loyal and committed to
their work. Effective grievance management is an essential part of personnel management. The
managers should adopt the following approach to manage grievance effectively-

1. Quick action- As soon as the grievance arises, it should be identified and resolved.
Training must be given to the managers to effectively and timely manage a grievance.
This will lower the detrimental effects of grievance on the employees and their
performance.
2. Acknowledging grievance- The manager must acknowledge the grievance put forward
by the employee as manifestation of true and real feelings of the employees.
Acknowledgement by the manager implies that the manager is eager to look into the
complaint impartially and without any bias. This will create a conducive work
environment with instances of grievance reduced.
 3. Gathering facts- The managers should gather appropriate and sufficient facts explaining
the grievance’s nature. A record of such facts must be maintained so that these can be
used in later stage of grievance redressal.
4. Examining the causes of grievance- The actual cause of grievance should be identified.
Accordingly remedial actions should be taken to prevent repetition of the grievance.
5. Decisioning- After identifying the causes of grievance, alternative course of actions
should be thought of to manage the grievance. The effect of each course of action on the
existing and future management policies and procedure should be analyzed and
accordingly decision should be taken by the manager.
6. Execution and review- The manager should execute the decision quickly, ignoring the
fact, that it may or may not hurt the employees concerned. After implementing the
decision, a follow-up must be there to ensure that the grievance has been resolved
completely and adequately.

An effective grievance procedure ensures an amiable work environment because it redresses the
grievance to mutual satisfaction of both the employees and the managers. It also helps the
management to frame policies and procedures acceptable to the employees. It becomes an
effective medium for the employees to express t feelings, discontent and dissatisfaction openly
and formally.

Resources:

[1]Alampay, L. P., & Macapagal, M. E. (2011). An exploratory study of bullying and school
climate in urban and rural high schools. Quezon City: Institute of Philippine Culture/Ateneo
de Manila University.

2Bautista , V. (2007). Turning Philippine schools into Peace Zones: A policy paper on
bullying. A commissioned study for the Council for the Welfare of Children.

3Banzon-Librojo L. A., Garabiles M. R., Alampay L. P. (2017). Relations between harsh

discipline from

teachers, perceived teacher support, and bullying victimization among high school
students. Journal of Adolescence. 57:18-22.
4
Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. (2014). Building Capacity to Reduce
Bullying: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies
Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/18762.