ACADEMIC TYRANNY: A TALE OF SCHOOL BULLYING

 ACADEMIC TYRANNY: A TALE OF SCHOOL BULLYING

A cursory swipe at the Nigerian dallies and international headlines, shows that the news media is awash with agonizing tales of school bullying oddly directed at male children today - the seeds of our next generation. I say oddly, as a number of community health initiatives from time immemorial have been directed towards the protection of women and girls, under umbrella terms like ‘war against gender based violence, war against rape and sexual abuse; say no to rape, and whatnot’. 

Research has shown that little attention has been paid to maladies and perils plaguing the modern day boy (UDOFIA, 2021). However, this article hopes to shed a luminous searchlight on these grey areas. 

Article 1 of the United nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Conventions on the Right of the Child, defines a child as every person under the age of 18 (UNICEF, 1990). Therefore, a boy child is a male person under the age of 18. 

The male and female children have pertinent roles and relevance to the progress of the family and society at large. However, it is on the shoulders of male children the society is expanded and diversity maintained across families, communities, countries and races. The males are the footsteps imprinted boldly in the sands of recreation. In patriarchal societies like that of Africa, male children grow up into men who will become shields and defender of their families, exponents of insurmountable achievements and feats, while remaining steadfast to core values of morality, education and dignity. 

However, the recent tide in private secondary schools today makes one wonder if the old values and principles that shaped great societies and families can still be upheld. One of the most important of these values is Education. Undoubtedly the wheel of any nation’s economic prosperity, a well-educated man is capable of making logical and strong choices in any sphere he finds himself.

The primary and secondary schools are foundational educational vehicles for male children today. Unfortunately, such may no longer be the case. This article hopes to reveal the spanner in the works of secondary education in Nigeria today, especially in the private sector.

In Nigeria, the average secondary school enrolment age for male children is nine years. Some precocious youngins from high-brow families secure admission offers into prestigious and avant-garde private schools in the country by age 7. Here, life skills dished out in subject forms are inculcated into the children. Boys learn history, science, education, economics and mathematics, which forms the elements of successful participation in the society. This is why the sanity and conduciveness of learning environment in this space should be handled with utmost alacrity, devoid of distractions and social vices. Ill-fatedly, the rising cases of social vices, especially physical and verbal bullying in Nigerian private secondary schools today have brought doom on the quality of education the boy child receives for life success. 

In the past few months, over 20 fatal cases of school bullying have been recorded in private secondary schools across the country. These incidences have led to the death of over 50 young boys – children with distinctive, peculiar, and ambitious destinies; placed parents in eternal despair and caused fear and panic among school administrators.

WHAT IS BULLYING? 

 According to UNICEF 2018 EGYPT defines bullying as a form of aggressive behavior that occurs in an intentional and repeated manner causing another child to feel hurt. Bullying can take place in multiple forms, such as spreading of rumors, threatening, physical or verbal assault, engaging in insidious practices such as excluding a child from a group to hurt him, or any other gestures or actions that occurs in a less visible manner”.

Bullying can be classified into various types such as: physical bullying, verbal bullying, social bullying, and lots more. However, emphasis would be laid on these two (Physical and Verbal bullying). 

1. PHYSICAL BULLYING: This may be defined as the infliction of pain on a frail victim by physical strength mostly. This is carried out mostly through the use of the fist for punching, or the leg by kicking in sensitive part of the body or damaging of valuable properties to drive home their message to the victim’s sub-consciousness and greatly instill a higher sense of fear in them. A relatable example is the death of 12-year old Sylvester Oromoni jnr, a student of Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos, of this assault led to his demise has triggered fresh reactions from angry Nigerians, who have called for the prosecution of students named by the deceased as those who bullied him.

2. VERBAL BULLYING: Unlike physical bullying which involves physical strength, Verbal is spoken; it’s an oral conversation which involves the use of demeaning words. Such acts often impair indelible severe implications on victims which could lead to emotional depression, mental un-stability, seclusion, low self esteem and worse suicidal thoughts which could result to death if not carefully handled. Verbal bullying is one infamous act of bullying in effect mostly in the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria as it involves name calling, threatening, ridicule, defamatory statements, slander and lots more. Often, African parents bathe their wards with insult every single day, this acts are seeds sown into youngins life for repayment later.

CAUSES OF BULLYING

The causes of bullying includes: Family conflict, Association with delinquent peers, Social status, Peer pressure, Jealousy and lots more.

       SOLUTIONS TO BULLYING OF THE BOY CHILD

1. PARENTS: Inculcation of good morals, vices and upbringing as guardians and role models would help to stop the transfer of inappropriate attitudes that could birth bullying in future.

2. SCHOOL: As instructors of discipline and inculcation of morality to children, reviewing of policy to address bullying and promotion of communication among teachers and students.

3. COMMUNITY: Provision of conducive environment and appropriate norms and standards would help in curbing bullying among the boy child.

4. Enlightenment of Bully and the Victim.

In conclusion, the act to curb bullying in the boy child requires the cooperation of all.