35% of school students experience bullying in Bangladesh: UNICEF

In Bangladesh, 35 percent students aged between 13 and 15 reported being bullied one or more days in 30 days or involved in a physical fight at least once in 12 months in 2014, says a new report.

Globally, half of students aged between 13 and 15 worldwide – around 150 million – report having experienced peer-to-peer violence such as physical fights or forms of bullying, from their peers in and around school, according to the report released by UNICEF on Wednesday.

The report is based on data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children cross-national study and the Global School-based Student Health Surveys. The data include 122 countries, representing 51 percent of the global population of children between 13 and 15.

The report finds that students experience other forms of violence at school, such as attacks on classrooms or physical punishment by teachers.

About 720 million school-age children live in countries where they are not fully protected by law against forms of physical punishment at school, according to the report.

“Education is the key to building peaceful societies, and yet, for millions of children around the world, school itself is not safe,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

“Every day, students face multiple dangers, including fighting, pressure to join gangs, bullying – both in person and online, violent discipline, sexual harassment and armed violence. In the short-term this impacts their learning, and in the long-term it can lead to depression, anxiety and even suicide. Violence is an unforgettable lesson that no child needs to learn.”

Globally, slightly more than one in three students between 13 and 15 said they experience bullying, according to the report. About one in three has been involved in physical fights.

On the other hand, 17 million young adolescents in 39 industrialised countries have admitted bullying others at school, according to the report.

In 2017, there were 396 documented or verified attacks on schools in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 26 on schools in South Sudan, 67 attacks in the Syrian Arab Republic and 20 attacks in Yemen.

While girls and boys are equally at risk of bullying, girls are more likely to become victims of psychological forms of bullying and boys are more at risk of physical violence and threats.

The report notes that violence involving weapons in schools, such as knives and guns, continues to claim lives. It also says that in an increasingly digital world, bullies are disseminating violent, hurtful and humiliating content with the tap of a key.