A CALL FOR EXPULSION OF BULLIES FROM SCHOOL TO STOP BULLYING

          The problem of bullying in Indonesian educational institutions is not a new case and it keeps increasing every year. The large number of cases of violence that occur among school children today is very worrying for both education and parents. According to the Federation of Indonesian Teachers' Unions (FSGI), there will be 23 cases of bullying in schools in 2023. Of the 23 cases, 13.5% at the high school level, and 13.5% at the vocational school level, 50% occurred at the junior high school level, and 23% at the elementary school level. A survey conducted by Plan Indonesia and Semai Jiwa Amini (SEJIWA) in 2008, involved 1,500 middle and high school students in three big cities in Indonesia, namely Jakarta, Surabaya, and Yogyakarta, which recorded a level of violence of 67,9% at the high school level and 66,1% at the middle school level. Bullying happened at 43,7% at the high school level and 41,2% at the junior high school level(Wibowo et al., 2021). A bully usually deliberately intends to hurt the victims and unfortunately, this often happens in schools, which is the place where we are supposed to gain knowledge. If the bullies continue bullying other students at school, then this will be very detrimental and have fatal consequences for the victims. Therefore, the bullies should be given a serious punishment in the form of expelling the bullies from school. However, there are still pros and cons opinions about dropping the bullies out of school. Considering the harmful effects of bullying, the best thing we can do to prevent bullying is by expelling the bullies from school.

The main reason why we should expel the bullies from school is to protect the victims’ mental health. A survey conducted by Plan Indonesia and Semai Jiwa Amini (SEJIWA) in 2008 proved that bullying had occurred in schools with the highest category of psychological bullying in the form of ostracism. In second place is verbal bullying in the form of teasing and mocking, and lastly physical bullying in the form of punches (Wibowo et al., 2021). If the bullies do not stop bullying other people at school, then this will be very detrimental and have fatal consequences for the victims. Therefore, bullies should be dropped out of school to prevent unwanted things from happening. and to avoid fatal consequences for victims of bullying cases such as injuries, depression, and trauma. Especially if the victims have to see the bullies every day at school, then the trauma will never go away. Therefore, bullies should be expelled from school. In Law Number 23 of 2002 concerning Child Protection, Article 54 stipulates "Children in and within the school environment must be protected from acts of violence committed by teachers, school administrators or their friends at the school concerned, or other educational institutions."

The next reason why the bullies should be expelled from school is to to create a sense of deterrence on them. According to Kompasiana 2021, Febrilia Akika Sari, a Communication Science Student at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta shared her story on her blog about the bullying she experienced in schools. She said that she got bullied in junior high school. After she got bullied by her 4 classmates, she reported them to the guidance and counseling teacher. As a result, everyone involved in the bullying was called to the guidance and counseling room. They say to counselors that they were just joking. Febrilia said that the bullies did not regret their actions at all. There was no regretful expression on their faces. One of her friends who was bullying her even threatened her for reporting it. This is a proof that bullying can get worse if we don't act decisively against the bullies. The bullies must be expelled from school to make them feel deterred so they won’t bully others anymore. Expelling the bullies from school would reduce the occurrence of bullying cases in schools because it means that we are sending a clear message to other bullies that bullying will not be tolerated.

On the other hand, some argue and do not agree that bullies should be expelled from school. In their opinion, the bullies must not be expelled from school because they still have a future. Bullies who are expelled have a far higher chance of failing critical developmental milestones, and removing bullies from their social network can make social issues worse (Raffaele Mendez, 2003; Santrock, n.d.). In comparison to their peers, bullies who have been expelled from school are more likely to fail to complete a General Equivalency Diploma (GED) or other vocational training; additionally, they are more likely to engage in criminal activity, have higher rates of depression, drug addiction, the stress at home, and antisocial behavior (Sundius & Farneth, 2008). That is why dropping them out from school could ruin their bright future. Then how about the victims’ future? Keeping the bullies in schools could ruin the victims’ mental health and the victims’ future. Also, the bullying could be worse than before because the bullies feel that the actions they committed on the victims did not have any bad impact on them since they only received a small punishment.

Bullying can cause such deep trauma to the victims that the victims may feel afraid to go to school again or even worse, they will decide to stop attending school after experiencing bullying at school. In the case that happened to one of the 3^rd-grade elementary school students in Palangka Raya, the victim got bullied in school and it caused the victim to experience psychological disorders and deep trauma so that the victim was often delirious and afraid when sleeping (Latif, 2023). Bullying can have a devastating impact on the future of its victims. Many cases of bullying occur in Indonesian schools and not infrequently cases of bullying in schools which cause the victim to be disabled and make the victims commit suicide because they cannot bear to be bullied every day at school. Bullying can cause the victim to become disabled as the bullying case that occurred several months ago in Gresik. A 2^nd-grade elementary school student is permanently blind in her right eye as a result of being allegedly stabbed by her senior (BBC News Indonesia, 2023). Besides, bullying has fatal consequences for the victim because bullying can make the victim commit suicide as happened in one of the elementary schools in Banyuwangi on February 27, 2023, one of the students from the elementary school committed suicide due to being a victim of bullying at his school (CNN Indonesia, 2023). Even dropping them out of school would not be enough for the bullies as their punishment. Imagine if the bullies did not get the punishment they deserved.

Exposing the bullies from school is the best action to prevent bad things from happening like the cases mentioned above. More than likely, bullying has many adverse effects on victims such as trauma, injuries, depression, and even worse suicide. Bullying will lead to fatal consequences if we do not handle it properly. Too many bullying cases happened in schools repeatedly and we have to do something to stop them. We cannot let these things happen to students whose main task is to study. Students should not experience bullying, especially in the school which should be the safe place where they are supposed to gain knowledge. Therefore, to protect the victims, to reduce, and to avoid unpleasant things happening especially in schools, we must take a firm stance against the bullies as our best effort by making a call for expulsion of bullies from school to stop bullying. (1266 words)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES

BBC News Indonesia. (2023, September 20). Perundungan dan kasus penusukan mata siswi SD di Gresik hingga buta—’Bullying di Indonesia sudah darurat’. BBC News Indonesia. https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/articles/czr1xkdvk8jo

CNN Indonesia. (2023). Siswa SD Banyuwangi Bunuh Diri, Diduga Sering Diolok karena Anak Yatim. https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20230302144237-20-919906/siswa-sd-banyuwangi-bunuh-diri-diduga-sering-diolok-karena-anak-yatim

Latif, H. A. (2023, March 22). Kasus Bullying di SD Unggulan, Korban Alami Trauma setelah Dihajar Fisik. KaltengPos. https://kaltengpos.jawapos.com/berita-utama/22/03/2023/kasus-bullying-di-sd-unggulan-korban-alami-trauma-setelah-dihajar-fisik/

Raffaele Mendez, L. M. (2003). Predictors of suspension and negative school outcomes: A longitudinal investigation. New Directions for Youth Development, 2003(99), 17–33. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.52

 Santrock, J. W. (n.d.). Life-span development.

 Sundius, J., & Farneth, M. (2008). PUTTING KIDS OUT OF SCHOOL: WHAT’S CAUSING HIGH SUSPENSION RATES AND WHY THEY ARE DETRIMENTAL TO STUDENTS, SCHOOLS, AND COMMUNITIES IN OSI-BALTIMORE’S STUDENT ATTENDANCE SERIES.

Wibowo, H., Fijriani, F., & Krisnanda, V. D. (2021). Fenomena perilaku bullying di sekolah. Original Article, 157(2), 157–166. https://doi.org/10.30998/ocimxxxxxx