The Government Should Not Continue To Be Silent With The Urge For Serious Handling Of Bullying Emergency

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JAKARTA - The government should be able to immediately respond to pressure from parliament regarding anxiety in the community regarding the phenomenon of bullying, especially in the school environment.

This was conveyed by the University of Indonesia (UI) Political Communication Expert, Ari Juanedi. He said that the DPR is a representation of the people who voice public aspirations so that it must be followed up immediately.

"I give more points than voices in the DPR asking the Government to immediately withdraw the emergency brake for the occurrence of such massive bullying phenomena in many places. So it needs to be proactively responded to," said Ari Junaedi, Friday, October 6.

On several occasions, the Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, voiced about the problem of bullying in the country which is increasingly concerning. In fact, Puan asked the Government to prepare special handling related to bullying problems involving children.

Ari assessed that the government should pay more attention to the attention of the number one person on the legislative council because it has been voiced many times.

Ari also assessed that the leadership of the DPR, which is currently held by Puan Maharani, is always loud when voicing issues related to women and children. He said Puan understood very well about the role of women and children, which is the key to the creation of the 2045 Golden Generation.

The Director of the Political Studies Institute, Nusakom Pratama, also explained that the way the DPR communicates by continuing to voice cases of bullying is proof of the council's commitment to instilling elements of character in young people. Moreover, in the era of information disclosure, Ari assessed that the elements of the Indonesian nation's integrity that prioritized manners and mutual respect were gradually fading.

"If social media with all its positive and negative values is so easy for students to accept, while the world of education only provides minimal space for the development of character and mental health, then the destruction of the nation's mandate through its young generation is just a matter of time," he explained.

Regarding the problem of bullying, Puan had indeed conveyed the importance of being presented with character education as well as moral education and characterizing in school. Given, technological advances have an impact on the noble values of the Indonesian nation.

Therefore, Ari hopes that the Government can act immediately because the speed of the'mimicking' pattern carried out by students through social media is very fast. Moreover, the absence of rigid rules from the Government regarding age restrictions in accessing social media is a contributor to the emergence of negative things in children.

"Our education pattern still focuses on achieving academic values and ignoring children's mental growth and development. Education in character and morals is not a focus. As a result, many children are affected by the bad side of social media, whose boundaries are not yet clear," explained Ari.

Furthermore, Ari questioned the effectiveness of the 'Free Curriculum' launched by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) in preventing acts of violence in educational institutions.

"The curriculum has not instilled moral values to respect others. So I agree with what was revealed by the DPR, that there is a need for subjects to prioritize communication science, in relation to moral values and characterization in daily life," he said.

"So the direction of communication of the DPR which continues to voice the issue of character education in children is correct," continued Ari.

On the other hand, the role of the DPR is considered so crucial, especially in terms of legislation to design legal products that strengthen efforts to cause bullying in the educational environment. Ari emphasized that this momentum should not be wasted in order to realize a friendly educational environment with the development of intelligence and growth and development of students based on the values of noble character.

"The parliament's decision, in this case the DPR, towards the Government, to reform the education ecosystem, is a must. So far, the Ministry of Education and Culture has focused more on academic aspects and neglects aspects of character and morals," said the lecturer of the Postgraduate Program at the Islamic University of Bandung (Unisba).

In the future, Ari hopes that the DPR will continue to oversee the programs and actions of ministries such as the Ministry of Education and Culture, Research and Technology, Ministry of Women and Children Empowerment, Ministry of Health, Population and Family Planning Agency, National Commission for Child Protection and other institutions to care about the mental development and protection of students. Especially in terms of anticipating physical and verbal violence.

"The more widespread and massive acts of bullying at all levels of education, no doubt this condition deserves to be categorized as 'one-standard'. Not only does it lead to death, the bullying that is currently happening has an impact on physical disabilities to victims," said Ari.