Youth speak up against school violence and bullying

The shame of not speaking up haunts her to this day.

As a high school student in Myanmar, Khun Sint Phoo Wai witnessed her classmate sitting alone in the school cafeteria when a group of students began mocking her appearance.

'Her face reddened. Her body shrank. And do you know what I did at that moment? I sat still, frozen, and thinking, "If I stand up, will I be their next target?"'

Now, an undergraduate student at Rangsit University in Thailand, Khun Sint Phoo Wai has found the courage to tell her story publicly. In a powerful address during a speech competition and intergenerational dialogue co-organized by the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok and Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Education, she reflected on her experience of bullying.

'If I had been part of a school where supporting each other was truly encouraged, maybe I wouldn't have hesitated to step in and protect her from their cruelty,' she told the audience.

Her experience is distressingly common. Globally, one in three students is bullied at school, and with the rise of technology, cyberbullying now affects as many as one in ten children, according to a new UNESCO report, which suggests as many as one billion children experience violence each year. Coinciding with the report's launch on 5 November, the International Day against Violence and Bullying at School, Including Cyberbullying, UNESCO Bangkok's speech competition and intergenerational dialogue gave local students a platform to share their experiences with bullying and discuss ways to create safe, inclusive schools.

'This event amplifies students' voices on school violence and bullying, and brings educational stakeholders together to share actionable solutions,' said Jenelle Babb, Regional Advisor for Education for Health and Well-Being at UNESCO Bangkok.

School violence, in all its forms, imposes substantial costs on education systems and is a fundamental children's rights issue. It can have severe repercussions on students' physical and mental health, academic success, and future opportunities. The economic toll is equally staggering, with violence in and around schools estimated to result in nearly US$11 trillion in lost lifetime earnings worldwide.

Phattharadon Werachainarong, youth advocate for inclusive safe spaces, suggested that each school should have a peer support system in place to help foster respect for diversity and make everyone feel safe.

'Teachers play an essential role in creating a safe learning culture and environment for everyone,' remarked Tanawat Suwannapan, social studies teacher at Rajadamri School. 'It begins with an awareness of power differentials and of the value of tolerance and empathy for harmonious coexistence.'

Drawing on its strengths in global advocacy, knowledge sharing, and data collection, UNESCO supports efforts to prevent school violence though a holistic approach that engages the entire education sector. UNESCO's new report, Safe to learn and thrive: Ending violence in and through education, outlines practical steps for fostering safe and respectful learning spaces such as implementing school-based reporting mechanisms that ensure anonymity and confidentiality, and training bystanders to recognize violence, intervene safely, and report incidents.

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