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Psychiatrists seek legislation to punish perpetrators as bullying rises

By Francesca Hangeior

Mental health specialists have called on the National Assembly to enact laws that will holistically address and prevent bullying in the country.

The psychiatrists say with specific laws, the government can protect every Nigerian from bullying by ensuring that the perpetrators are brought to justice and their victims adequately compensated.

The physicians noted that bullying could have devastating physical, psychological, mental, and social impacts on victims if they are lucky to survive it.

The senior health professionals expressed concern over the high rate of bullying in the nation’s secondary schools and tertiary institutions.

According to them, bullying among young people has assumed a worrisome dimension in recent times and therefore, requires legislation to stop further spread of the menace.

The physicians identified dysfunctional homes and families where parents are very abusive and children are not loved as a major risk factor for bullying.

The authorities of Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere Ekiti, on Wednesday expelled two female students for bullying a colleague.
The development followed the outcry that trailed the video of two female students assaulting another female student of the institution on social media.

In April, there was outrage and widespread condemnation on social media over a viral video of a female student at Lead British International School, Abuja, being bullied by her classmates.
The same month, another video depicting a separate case of bullying involving some male students in the school’s uniform emerged.

A Professor of Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry, College of Medical Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Taiwo Sheikh, told our correspondent that bullying is a big problem in Nigeria now while identifying physical bullying as the most common one in our environment.

He also said the situation could worsen the burden of mental health problems in the country if policymakers fail to urgently address the problem.

Sheikh, who is the immediate past President of the Association of Psychiatry in Nigeria, said the situation if not checked will lead to poor academic performance and also increase the number of out–of–school children.

The psychiatrist said children who are exposed to all sorts of traumatic life events grow up to become bullies.
The don said, “Children who are from very abusive parents, who abuse each other physically and emotionally tend to also become bullies.

“Children who have low self-esteem because of the background they come from and are not allowed to express themselves, have low self-confidence and may end up also becoming bullies.

“So also are those from broken homes; they have no participatory parental care where both parents are available for them. So they also end up becoming bullies because of the experiences that they have from such homes. So the home front is a very significant contributor to bullying.”

Giving further insight into how the home contributes to bullying in society, the mental health advocate said, “Children who come from very dysfunctional homes, where physical fighting, emotional torture is the order of the day will grow up to become bullies. They learn that behaviour and come out with it. They see it as a normal way of life.”

He explained that bullying is when an individual intentionally does something that will cause physical pain, psychological pain, or social deprivation on a person with the intent to suppress him or her to submission.

“Bullying is in various forms. It could be physical, like beating; it could be verbal abuse, like talking to someone in a degrading manner. It could also be emotional, psychological or social, like depriving someone of freedom. It’s a serious problem.

“People who bully are usually those that have the upper hand and are in an advantageous position”, the professor stated.
The American Psychological Association defines bullying as “a form of aggressive behaviour in which someone intentionally and repeatedly causes another person injury or discomfort.”

The APS noted that bullying could be in the form of “physical contact, words or more subtle actions” and “the bullied individual typically has trouble defending him or herself and does nothing to cause the bullying.”

Bullying in schools is frequent and poses a serious public health concern, according to the association.

Meanwhile, Sheikh listed anxiety, lack of sleep, traumatic stress disorder, depression, low self-esteem, injuries, isolation, suicide, and in some cases, death as some of the consequences of bullying.

“We have seen young people who end up taking their own lives because of the bullying they experience, and people did not observe and could not save them”, he added.

On how Nigeria can effectively tackle bullying both in schools and workplaces, the mental health expert recommended, “Let me start from the policy level. Schools, institutions, workplaces, and governments at all levels need to develop some policies that should address and prevent bullying in institutions, in school, and in the workplace.

“So, every school is supposed to have a policy that will prevent bullying, and if it happens, that will address the issue within such institutions.

“The Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and Ministry of Youth must make it mandatory for institutions, workplaces, sports clubs and anywhere you have gatherings of young people and even adults to have standing policies that will prevent bullying.”

The psychiatrist said Nigeria must have a legal framework in place that would recognise and create sanctions on whoever is found to be involved in bullying.

“We must have legislation on bullying, legislation that will address bullying.

“There must be laws that will deal with someone who is the bully or the aggressor and then, there must also be laws that will bring justice where someone who has been bullied is properly compensated for what the person has gone through.

“So, this is a policy and legislative way of addressing and preventing bullying in our society”, the don said.

According to the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics, 19 per cent of one in five children aged 10 to 15 years in England and Wales experienced at least one type of online bullying behaviour in the year ending March 2020.

This is equivalent to 764,000 children with nearly three out of four children – 72 per cent – who had experienced online bullying behaviour also being victims at school.

Also, according to a 2019 survey by an American organisation, the National Centre for Educational Statistics, one out of every five, over 20 per cent of students, report being bullied.

In addition, six per cent of male students report being physically bullied compared to four per cent of female counterparts.

While 18 per cent of female students reported being the subjects of rumours and excluded from activities on purpose, nine per cent of male students did.

A Consultant Psychiatrist with Green Oaks Consulting, Dr Chinwe Obinwa, said bullying in children could cause a wide range of mental health problems in adulthood while calling for a concerted effort to check the ugly trend.

According to her, even though childhood bullying is often ignored by many parents, it has a serious long-term effect on children.

“Short-term effects include frequent headaches, stomach aches, anxiety and depression, low self-esteem, sleep disturbance, feelings of shame, and poor school performance.”

“It is noteworthy to highlight that bullying also affects the bully. The effect on the bully in the short term includes increased risk of truancy, poor school performance, and substance misuse.

The bully may also have trouble with maintaining social relationships.

“The longer-term effects include increased risk of perpetrating domestic violence against spouse or child, substance abuse and other antisocial behaviours”, the psychiatrist said.