Are schools failing to feel safe? Bullying trends suggest so 

Schools, as taught early, stand as a second home in sought of every child’s fundamental right to education and building a character to become responsible citizens of society. 

But for some students, the sound of school bells have become a signal for anxiety rather than excitement. Behind classroom doors, bullying still persists — and science says its impacts continue to transcend from feelings of isolation to outward violence and aggression. 

On June 22, classes in San Jose National High School, Tacloban City, were disrupted after two students aged 14 and 15 opened fire on campus. The shootout left three students dead, with 17 others wounded. According to preliminary investigations, authorities identified bullying as one of the primary motives behind the incident. 

The toll of singling one out

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines bullying as the intentional and aggressive behavior occurring repeatedly towards a victim. 

This may take various forms such as physical bullying, including hitting and destruction of personal property; psychologically, in the form of teasing, threatening, or exclusions in groups; or even sexual bullying, like throwing sexual jokes or gestures that potentially harasses a victim.  

According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), the detriments of bullying severely attach to the negative turnabouts of a victim’s self-image and perception, social interactions or academic performance, and most often, may lead to mental health issues. 

“From our experience, bullying — cyberbullying, emotional bullying and social exclusion — among adolescents is linked to depression and suicidal ideation,” says Dr. Ma. Lourdes Carandang, founder of the MLAC Institute for Psychosocial Services Inc.

However, the bearing of peer victimization does not stop in social isolation. 

Why some victims turn violent

While many victims of bullying withdraw into silence, research suggests that some reactive ones may later externalize their emotional distress through aggression or harmful behavior, especially those younger and weaker than them. 

These, in turn, become youth characterized as “bully-victims,” though not entirely separated out from “pure victims” (those who are bullied only), the National Institute of Health (NIH) explains.

Specifically, school shootings become a violent externalizing behavior that has been associated with consequences of bullying behavior in the popular media. 

A 2017 study shows bullied teens are twice as likely to take weapons such as guns or knives to school. The researchers found teens who fear for their safety in school were more than three times likelier to carry a weapon than kids not abused. 

Furthermore, the Tacloban shootout follows an incident occurring in Cavite National High School, where an 18-year-old student was wounded after being stabbed by a fellow Grade 11 student. Authorities identified the motive stemming from an invite to a school brawl. 

This was days after a similar knife attack by a Grade 8 student at a private school in General Trias City, the same province, leaving seven Grade 5 students injured. 

While the latter incident showed no relation to bullying upon the conduct of investigations, both served as signals for the schools to strengthen psychosocial support and counseling services among students. 

Bullying left unchecked 

School bullying has continued to manifest as a public health issue. In fact, statistics show one in every three Filipino students experience bullying at least once a week, according to 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). 

Approximately 2,014 students from 188 schools who took part in the same assessment reported public demonstration of humiliation or being “made fun” of. For Filipinos, this appears as simple as it sounds, but the toll of consequences have risen alongside its cases. 

Being among the most pervasive forms of school violence, it has become a pattern of behavior for many, and not just isolated incidents. Its repercussions display bullying as highly socially contagious, with a 2024 study saying it ripples through social clusters. 

These problems continue to persist all while the country pushes for a better mental health with the implementation of the Philipline Council for Mental Health (PCMH), and enactment of laws such as Republic Act No. 10627, otherwise known as the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 to address victimization acts in campuses. 

This trend substantially increases the notion: are schools failing to feel safe for students? Do mental health advocacies upheld by academic institutions directly benefit its constituents? 

Schools framing violence as sudden outbursts may undermine the slow process beneath it, often stemming from chronic bullying and untreated mental health aftereffects. In reality, both bullying and safety issues are not separate matters of discussion, but are part of the same continuum of harm. 

If schools foster such a peril climate, violence among students may appear less as a surprise act, but more so becomes a turnaround for the failure of care and prevention.