Dealing with school bullies

Bullying is a common practice in school especially during the first few days or weeks of the opening of classes. Children, particularly those who are new faces in school, are subjected to different forms of harassment by young rascals who are out to prove their superiority in school.

This may come in the form of unwanted physical contact between the bully and his supposed victim such as punching, pushing, shoving, kicking, slapping, tickling, headlocks, inflicting school pranks, teasing and fighting with the use of available objects as weapons. 

Bullies are cowards masquerading as tough guys. They are only emboldened because they are many. At the first smell of blood, they are the first to run in a fight.

As a frail and skinny young boy, I was often the object of bullying from other boys of my age. But I never ran away from a fight even if I went home bloodied and bruised.

During the first day of our classes, we were told to weed out the garden as Brigada Eskwela was never heard of then. With a garden bolo, I was busy digging the roots of the grass when a small group of new classmates led by a bigger and taller boy swarmed around me. I stood up with the muddy garden bolo in my hand. It was then that I sensed trouble.

Without any provocation at all, the leader of the gang asked if I wanted to fight another boy, pointing to a bigger and muscular bully gently mashing his clenched right fist with the palm of his left hand. Then the leader drew a line between us. The group egged us on to fight. 

I knew then that if I refused, they will continue to bully me around for the rest of my stay in this school. This is my baptism of fire, I thought. Since I came from the province, this bunch of misguided city boys were out to test my mettle. I took the challenge.

Suddenly my heart beat faster and my adrenaline rose. I stood my ground. My bigger opponent circled around me in a sparring fashion.

I could have let go of his taunting on me. I could have let the incident come to pass had he not made the mistake of spitting on the ground in front of me. Insult was more than I could take.

The big boy stretched out his hand as if begging me to fight him. In an instinct, I quickly grabbed his hand, twisted it hard and gave him a dose of his own medicine with a strong straight to the eye. I followed it up with another strong jab to the kidney part of his abdomen and kicked the bone of his leg.

My bigger opponent wobbled to the ground like a felled log not knowing what hit him. He laid flat on the ground grimacing in pain. I wanted to kick him but the other bullies grabbed my arms to stop the rout. I drew the first blood and I knew the smell of it caused them to shiver down their spine. I knew they would not gang up on me because they were the ones who instigated the fight.

I spat the face of my hapless opponent and casually left the group who suddenly turned into a lugubrious mood. One of the bullies complained that I did not observe the civilized rule of the game. I reasoned that they did not explain to me the rules before they set us up for a fight. Hell with decent rules! It was my turn to spit on the ground. 

From then on, they bothered me no more. In fact, the leader of the gang, a son of an NBI agent, became my close friend until graduation from our elementary grades.

While there is now R.A. 10627 or  "Anti-Bullying Act of 2013," it has no specific provision on penalty to the commission of the crime. The act merely requires all elementary and secondary schools to adopt policies to prevent and address the act of bullying in their schools. This provision is as vague as the murky waters in a rain-drenched canal.

According to the law, the school Principal shall be responsible for the implementation and oversight of policies intended to address bullying. Upon receipt of report on bullying, the Principal shall promptly conduct investigation. If he thinks there is a criminal offense committed, he will notify the law enforcement agency for appropriate action.

The new anti-bullying law is not a deterrent to the misguided children in school. Sanction is imposed more on the school rather than on the bully.

The only concrete response to deal with bullies in school is to fight back at the first instance. It is almost a cinch that there will be no more second time around. Take it from one who had been there and done that and no one bullies nobody no more.