The Department of Education (DepEd) has made stronger rules to stop bullying in schools. These new rules help make schools safer and friendlier for all Filipino students.
This happened after Education Secretary Sonny Angara signed the new rules for the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013, a law he helped create when he was a senator.
“Schools are places for learning, not for hurting others. There should be no place for bullying in our schools or in our society,” Angara said.
Under the new rules, all public and private schools—including learning centers in communities and schools in other countries run by DepEd—must follow the same rules to stop bullying.
These rules should have programs to stop bullying in the whole school, ways to help early when problems start, and clear steps for reporting and fixing bullying cases.
The new rules also explain what teachers, school leaders, parents or guardians, and students must do to stop and handle bullying, making sure every case is taken care of.
The rules also give clearer meanings of bullying. This includes early warning signs like repeated teasing, online bullying, treating someone badly because of their gender or religion, and actions that hurt someone's feelings or leave them out—even if no one gets hurt physically.
“There should be a culture of kindness and respect. To make this happen, we are giving clear roles and responsibilities to teachers, parents, and school leaders,” Angara said.
To help schools respond better, the new rules add a new role called the Learner Formation Officer. This person will be the first to handle bullying cases and will quickly investigate and help the students involved.
Schools must also put anti-bullying rules in their student handbooks and post them in at least three visible places around the school.
Meanwhile, DepEd promised to keep helping schools make their Child Protection Committees (CPCs) stronger. They will also give support and guidance to make sure these groups are doing their jobs well.
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