THE STRONG, THE WEAK, AND THE TROUBLED: A CASE STUDY ON BULLYING

This study aimed to evaluate the incidences of bullying among students. Specifically, it sought to determine the profile of the students, teachers, and parents; identify the perceptions of victims and bullies; recognize the manifestations of victims and bullies; distinguish the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of the bullies and victims; discover the kind relationship of parents and children; and identify the current bullying interventions or policy of the school. This research used multiple case studies and interview among purposively chosen grade school students. Interview with the parents and teachers were also conducted. Psychological tests were administered and interpreted for analysis of behaviors. Results revealed that victims and bullies perceived bullying as teasing, joking, discriminating, and spreading rumors. Additionally, it is also a threat or deliberate hurting of someone else’s feelings. The victims experienced being called with aliases, while bullies hurt their classmates by spreading rumors, trying to trip their classmate while walking on the corridors and making jokes on somebody. Bullies revealed that they eliminate aggressive behaviors by becoming less aggressive and not hurting others, being kind and helpful to others even to those they dislike. Furthermore, manifestations of bullying in the victims revealed that they are being bullied for reasons like being the biggest or smallest in class, silent in class, very shy, and timid. On the other hand, bullies are described as someone who say what they want, leader in group activities, and snob. In addition, bullies exhibit behavior such as being unapproachable, frank and assertive, popular, and making fun of others. Meanwhile, victims say that they feel bad about themselves as they need to gain perfection to be liked by their classmates, thinking that they are not a good person and cannot do anything about it. Bullies stated that they bully because it is their classmate’s fault or they are being surpassed in their achievements by another classmate, and it was unintentionally done. The effects of bullying to the victims include inability to concentrate on studies, feelings of sadness and difficulty sleeping, while the bullies felt sorry, guilty, and sad. The study also revealed the significant role of the counselor in the prevention of bullying in school. A well planned intervention program should be provided aside from the current anti-bullying program that the school implements. It will not only strengthen the policy given by the school itself but most of all it will cater to the needs of the students to be a well-rounded individual. The need to address concerns and issues of the students can be managed through the collaborative efforts of the teachers, students, counselors, and parents. Massive campaign can be more significant if activities regarding selfawareness, values formation, and sensitivity to others will be provided for students.