42% of schoolchildren face bullying, 15-city study finds; Denmark's "class hour" model draws attention

A recent study has put a figure on how serious bullying, meaning teasing and harassment, has become in schools. According to the study, about 42 per cent of schoolchildren in the country are facing bullying and harassment. A Danish model that teaches children empathy and conflict resolution is being discussed across the country as a way to tackle the problem.

The study was conducted in 15 cities by The Teacher Foundation and Wipro Applying Thought in Schools. It found the situation in schools to be deeply worrying. Some 42 per cent of students in Classes 4 to 8 said they had faced bullying and harassment on the school premises. Thirty-six per cent of students in Classes 9 to 12 also reported such problems.

UNICEF India has also said there is still a lack of comprehensive national data on bullying in the country.

India already has several anti-bullying policies and school safety measures. The real challenge is to ensure that children can complain safely and without fear, and that school administrations act on complaints consistently and impartially.

Schools in Denmark have a special arrangement, called "class hour", to ease children's stress and strengthen their relationships. In this weekly session, children get one hour every week to speak openly about personal and class-related problems. They listen to one another and try, sitting together, to resolve quarrels and tensions. The aim is to bring children together through conversation instead of treating every small dispute only as a disciplinary matter.

Education experts say that if India wishes to adopt such a model, an age-appropriate, mandatory weekly session could be introduced in schools. It could cover friendship, living together and sharing. It could also address peer pressure, discrimination, online harassment and ways of handling disputes.

For this, teachers will need special training so that they can steer the children's conversations in the right direction and do not embarrass a victimised child in front of everyone. A confidential reporting system, counselling facilities and a clear inquiry process in schools have also been described as essential.

According to experts, teaching empathy alone will not end bullying. Fixing accountability is equally important. In serious or repeated cases of bullying, strict disciplinary action, protection for victims and proper follow-up are essential. If mutual respect is taught in schools as seriously as mathematics and science, the problem can be brought under control to a large extent.