Page 10 - Final Project.indd

CORE
S eeking amusement
Relationships and family
In the pain of others
With a stream of tears running down his
face and a shocked, pale face, a 12 year-old
student sat on the train rails waiting for the train
to come, and end his misery. While sitting on
the
railway, his life story passed in front of his eyes
as an endless cycle of
miserable events. After 15 minutes from
rescuing him, the boy revealed that he was
trying to commit suicide because his colleagues
always mock him for the appearance of his
teeth. This is the case of many students who
face bullying
situations every day, and suffer from devastating
psychological
consequences.
In an interview with the Head of
communication at UNICEF Egypt Mrs. Hala Abu
Khatwa on MBC Channel, she reveals that 70%
of the Egyptian children who are aged between
13 and 15 suffer from bullying. She further
explains that this percentage is not due to the
hostility of the children, but because of the lack
of awareness about the consequences of
bullying that may lead to committing suicide.
Due to this high percentage of
bullied children, the UNICEF, the
National Council for Childhood and Motherhood,
and the Ministry of Education have worked on
launching an anti-bullying campaign that aims
to spread awareness about bullying among the
parents and their children.
In the past, parents and school
principals denied the fact that there was school
bullying in Egypt. However, during the last
decade, many parents became highly aware of
the issue.
Family Coach Dina El Nahas says that the
dramatic increase in the number of
parents who visit her to help their
children is a strong indicator of the
increasing awareness of the parents.
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10
Diverse forms with one sorrowful fate
According to Psychiatrist Nawras Shukair
and Mrs. El Nahas, the forms of bullying vary, as
bullying can be through physical, psychological,
verbal abuse, and cyber bullying. The physical
abuse includes any harm for the body of the
bullied person, and damage to his/her
properties. In addition, the psychological abuse
includes socially isolating the bullied person,
and spreading rumors about him/her. The verbal
abuse includes mocking the bullied person for
his appearance, social status, religion…etc.
Mrs. El Nahas says that cyber bullying is the
most widespread type of bullying because of
the high consumption of the social media
nowadays.
Mr. Shukair says: “Naive, shy, emotional, and
weak students are more vulnerable to bullying
than other students.”
Mrs. El Nahas retrieves one of the most
memorable cases saying: “There was a girl who
came from Saudi Arabia, and she was different
from the other students, so students used to
mock her for being clam and introvert.”
Therefore, the girl started to negatively
react through being aggressive with the other
students. Mrs. El Nahas acknowledges that one
of the reasons behind the hostile behavior of
the girl is her feeling of lack of support from her
parents and teachers. Usually, bullied students
have two alternatives, either to stand for
themselves in an aggressive way or become
passive and defeatist.
Basma El Deeb, a mother of three girls,
says that her 12 year-old daughter has faced
many forms of bullying, such as mocking her for
her curly hair. Also, she says: “My eight year-old
daughter’s colleagues tend to socially isolate
her because she is very shy and emotional.”