KUCHING: Bullying continues to cast a shadow over classrooms, corridors, and even online spaces, with students from both secondary schools and universities sharing their personal experiences, observations and ideas on how to tackle the issue.
For Qarissa Hafeez, 13, bullying is “when someone keeps picking on or mistreating another person in order to hurt their feelings, embarrass them, or harm them physically”.
She recalled a moment in school when she saw a group of boys teasing and pushing another student during recess.
“They mocked his clothes and called him names,” she said to Sarawak TrIbune.
Her own encounter with bullying happened in Primary Six, when she was targeted for her short height.
“It made me shy and afraid to speak up in class,” she said.
Qarissa believes bullying is most common in the school corridors, canteens, and online group chats.
She feels that consistent awareness talks by teachers and strict disciplinary action could help.
“We should greet one another, include people in activities, and avoid judging others by their appearances or grades,” she added.
Muhd Adam Murni, 15, described bullying as a repeated pattern of hurting another person physically, verbally, or online “until that person feels scared or stressed”.
He has witnessed classmates being teased about their looks or how they speak, sometimes leading to them being excluded from social groups.
Having been bullied himself, Adam said it left him feeling “sad, angry, and less confident”.
If faced with such a situation again, he would “stand beside the person being bullied and then report it to a teacher or school counsellor”.
He believes the solution lies in strict enforcement by teachers, bravery from students to report incidents, and an early emphasis on respect.
At the university level, Arena Urok Duncan, 22, sees bullying as “repeatedly hurting, intimidating, or putting someone down, whether it’s with words, actions, or online”.
She has witnessed classmates mocked for their appearance, with damaging rumours spread behind their backs.
“Someone I know went through it, and watching them lose confidence made me feel angry and helpless because I didn’t know how to help at the time,” she shared.
Arena believes bullying can happen anywhere in schools, the workplace, or online, and recommends more awareness programmes, encouragement for students to speak up, and zero-tolerance policies.
For Najwa Mulok, 22, bullying is not limited to physical harm, saying “sometimes words can hurt even more”.
In school, she endured teasing, mental bullying, and even physical bullying to the point she feared attending classes.
“It really made me lose my confidence for a while,” she lamented.
She believes bullying is “definitely” most common in schools but is also present in workplaces and on social media.
Her solution includes stricter action against bullies, more programmes about kindness, and teaching respect from a young age.
“Students should be supportive, include others, and treat everyone equally,” she said.
Across the board, the message from these students is clear: bullying leaves lasting emotional scars.
Combating it requires not just rules and punishment, but empathy, inclusion, and a collective effort from teachers, students, and the community to stand against unkind behaviour.
