SINGAPORE: In the wake of recent bullying cases, a local Reddit user asked others if bullying has become a more serious problem.
In a post on the askSingapore subreddit, u/Fine-Stuff-5841 wrote on Nov 4 that “primary schools are crazy, honestly. Kids slap and choke each other instead of actually playing pretend. Kids in school are choking each other for ‘fun’ over a test that they failed. Children are pulling down pants and punching people in the guts.”
The post author asked why children today feel that they have to act out in violence and asked others on the platform if their children, siblings, or any other child that they know is being bullied.
“It feels like the same excuse that ‘girls are sensitive’ or ‘boys will be boys,’” the post author wrote, adding that when they were 11, they stood up for a child with autism who was being bullied, although they were ignored.
While the examples the post author mentioned are extreme, there have been a few high-profile cases of bullying, such as the incident at Sengkang Green Primary School, where a nine-year-old student and her mother were threatened by the girl’s classmates.
In May, a CNA survey showed that around 30% of secondary school students claimed to have been bullied in 2024, although according to the Ministry of Education, in the past five years, the average number of incidents has stayed steady, six incidents per year for every 1,000 secondary school pupils.
Many Singaporeans online, however, have expressed concerns over bullying incidents and called for more to be done to address the issue after a video showing Montfort Secondary School students assaulting another student was shared online earlier this year.
Some Reddit users commenting on u/Fine-Stuff-5841’s post wrote that violence has always been present in schools, but because of mobile phones, it has become easier to document incidents and share them.
Additionally, technology has also given youths another channel through which they can bully their peers.
“Now, bullying can follow kids home and into the bedrooms and even the hours/minutes before bedtime. It doesn’t even have to be outright bullying, either. A friend’s daughter is currently being subtly bullied in school, and I say ‘subtly’ because all the bullies are doing is adding her to group chats, having brief conversations, then kicking her out.
I think the violence has always been there. I come from an all-boys school, and I saw violence in the early 2000s all the time. It’s just that the students didn’t report it or we didn’t have any way to record it on devices (unlike now),” a commenter wrote.
“It’s always been there, just now social media makes the bullies feel more empowered,” another added.
“It is what happens when parents do not parent, and instead entrust that sort of responsibility on grandparents, the helper, and most of the time, the phone, unsupervised,” opined a third.
Read also: Primary 3 students suspended after bullying and threats to classmate and her mum
