School-Age Bullying: Why Your Child is Better Off at an International School
In 2018, parents and guardians whose kids study in Thailand finally got a shock when a damning video of what was always a rumour appeared online. In the heartbreaking video, a group of older school-going girls in their uniforms could be seen taunting, kicking, and bullying a little, hapless girl.
The video further sparked a furious response from social media when it emerged that the 10-year-old girl bullied was, in fact, autistic. What the clip, however, underscored was a justification that Thai government schools are notorious when it comes to kids being bullied.
School-age bullying is rampant in local government schools in Thailand. It has been so for quite a while with the 2015 WHO Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS), highlighting a 33.2% prevalence among 13- to 17-year-olds. The Department of Mental Health reports that about 600,000 kids get bullied every year, with the perpetrators being their peers.
Bullying in Thai schools, as evidenced by the video, takes several forms. It varies...