A concern group on Wednesday urged the government to provide more support to schools to deal with bullying, saying many teachers feel they lack the skills needed to deal with the issue. The Council of Early Childhood Education and Services said it surveyed over 500 upper primary students, parents and teachers in July. One in three pupils said they had experienced bullying. Among those who had been bullied, over 40 percent wanted to take revenge while others said they had suicidal or thoughts of self-harm, the group said. Over 80 percent of teachers said they would refer bullying cases to social workers, but council director Sansan Ching said the situation was not ideal. "Teachers are very preoccupied with teaching, and they don't feel that it's their status or their role to identify children who are being bullied," she said. "We don't have enough social workers in each school to deal with all sorts of social problems, including abuse, bullying and depression." Ching said schools should be allocated more resources to deal with bullying, and the issue should be incorporated into teacher training programmes. "Too many schools are not aware of how to deal with [bullying]. They don't have the skills, the education, the background, the expertise of how to deal with proper cases like these, so they go unnoticed or ignored," she said. Psychiatrist Doris Chan added that bullying can lead to serious mental health issues, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, so early detection of bullying in schools is crucial.
