Bullying Cases Must Be Stopped From Home

Illustration - Bullying has behavior that should be stopped through the role of parents at home. (Between)

JAKARTA - The case of bullying has again colored the country's news. This week, residents were shocked by the news that high school students in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, with the initials AS (15) who stabbed their schoolmate, MR (15) in a classroom. AS was desperate to take this action allegedly because he was upset that he often became a victim of bullying.

"The perpetrator explained that he was hurt by the victim. The victim at that time bullied the perpetrator and at that time the perpetrators were also there. Indeed, the perpetrators have often been bullied, so it's not once or twice," said Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of the Banjarmasin Police, Kompol Thomas Afrian.

The news of bullying is not the first time this has happened. It seems that this will not be the last case in Indonesia, especially in schools. The issue of bullying is still one of the main concerns in the realm of education. In today's era, not a few parents raised the issue before bringing their children to school. The reason is simple, parents do not want their children to be perpetrators and even victims of bullying.

Schools are actually a safe place, a place where parents entrust their children. For about seven hours a day or more children are outside the reach of their parents because they are at school.

Unfortunately, schools that should be a place to gain knowledge, a place to find experience, a place where children learn to interact with their surroundings, sometimes become a scary thing. That refers to the high phenomenon of bullying that occurs in schools.

The Federation of Indonesian Teachers' Unions (FSGI) recorded 16 cases of bullying in education units from January to July 2023. Of these cases, four of them occurred in July 2023. This figure is very unfortunate, considering that the new academic year 2022/2023 just started in mid-July.

Of the 16 cases of bullying in education units, the majority of them occurred at the education levels of SD(25%) and SMP (25%); SMA (18.75%) and SMK (18.75%); while at MTs (6.25%) and Islamic Boarding School (6.25%).

There were four cases that occurred during July 2023, namely bullying of 14 junior high school students in Cianjur Regency experiencing physical violence due to being late in school, physical violence in the sun and being kicked by a senior who was already in high school/vocational school.

Another case occurred in a SMAN in the city of Bengkulu, when 1 student who was diagnosed with autoimmune experienced bullying from 4 teachers and a number of their classmates. The stabbing case of students who are strongly suspected of bullying is very surprising to the public.

Bullying, quoted from the website of the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (KemenPPPA) is all forms of oppression or violence carried out intentionally by one person or a group of people who are stronger or more powerful to others, with the aim of hurting and being carried out continuously.

Citing Ki Hajar Dewantara's statement referred to as the Father of Indonesian Education, school is a Park. Park is a fun place to study, children come to the Park with pleasure and heavy heart to leave. Then, has the school now become like a garden?

In some schools, whether it's a country or a private sector, it has become a child-friendly place. However, we cannot turn a blind eye that there are still many cases of bullying that occur in educational institutions.

However, according to the Chairman of the FSGI Expert Council, Retno Listyarti, Msi, home or family is the center of education, the first and most important place to shape children's behavior. Children who receive pleasant treatment at home, then they will also be fun at school. On the other hand, children who often get abused at home will vent their anger on their friends at school.

'Children who commit violence usually get violence at home. Bullying or bullying is very dependent on the past of the child. School is the second home, while the child's first home is family, namely at home. What happens at school is a form of home," said Retno Listyarti to VOI.

The same thing was also expressed by Tika Bisono psychologist, M.PsiT, who emphasized the importance of the role of family, in this case parents, in shaping children's behavior. Happy families will usually give birth to happy children as well, so they don't do bullying. Certain parenting patterns mentioned Tika Bisono can encourage violence, both verbal and physical, to others who are weak because it is done as a form of self-defense for her inability to stay at home.

"Of the many cases of bullying, it is almost always related to the past, parenting, and the culture of a family. Authoritarian parenting from family members to other parties can affect children's behavior at school," said Tika Bisono.

Because they can't reply at home, then to reply it is done outside. This reply is actually a self-defense mechanism, so that it is balanced, so that it survives or survives.

Prevention of bullying in schools has been regulated in the Regulation of the Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia Number 82 of 2015 and the law on child protection. Schools should also form complaint posts so that acts of bullying can be minimized.

However, according to Retno Listyarti, there are still many schools in Indonesia that do not have the complaint post. Even though the complaint post will greatly help monitor whether there are cases of bullying in schools, especially when the victim is silent.

Meanwhile, Tika Bisono said that cooperation between parents and the school is believed to have a positive impact on suppressing cases of bullying in educational institutions.

"First, a connecting book can be made which is filled by parents and teachers as a means of privacy communication," said Tika Bisono.

Both parents and children must also be open. Open culture, especially from parents to children, must exist. So that children will automatically open up to their parents.

Bullying cases often make us furious, especially when the perpetrators of bullying often escape punishment because they are involved in a child protection law. In fact, not a few of us hope that the perpetrators will be given the appropriate punishment in order to provide a deterrent effect.

In the eyes of criminologist Rizky Nur Kamrullah, giving punishment to underage perpetrators is a dilemma.

"The punishment is actually dilemmatic. If it is hoped that there will be a deterrent effect, it is very difficult to give a harsh punishment because most of the bullys are school age," Rizky told VOI.

Apakah hukuman keras atau berat bisa memberikan efek jera, belum tentu. Perlu dilihat apakah hukuman itu bisa bermanfaat. Misal ketika anak penjara, belum tentu menjadi baik. Tak sedikit juga yang masuk menjara justru lebih rusak.

"In criminal justice, it is actually adapting or adaptive to the condition of the community," concluded Rizky.