Cases of online bullying set to rise: Chan Chun Sing

Trend is due to wider internet exposure and greater awareness of cyber bullying

- Gabrielle Chan

The number of reported instances of online bullying is expected to "progressively rise", said Education Minister Chan Chun Sing, as children have wider exposure to influences especially on the internet, and more people become aware of what cyber bullying looks like.

There are fewer reported cases of online bullying than offline cases, but this could be because people are "less sensitive to what constitutes online bullying", he said in Parliament on Oct 14.

Mr Chan was responding to Ms He Ting Ru (Sengkang GRC), who asked for the breakdown between online and offline bullying incidents reported to schools.

The average number of bullying incidents has remained steady, he said.

For every 1,000 students, there is an annual average of two incidents of bullying in primary schools, and six incidents in secondary school. These incidents cover all forms of bullying, both in and outside school.

Of these, the use of technology is involved in fewer than one incident per 1,000 secondary students and even fewer than that in primary schools.

Eight MPs, including Ms Hany Soh (Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC) and Mr Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC), asked about the recent spate of bullying videos circulated online and in chat groups, and how the Ministry of Education (MOE) is tackling such incidents.

Mr Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC) also asked whether the number of reported cases truly reflects parents' concerns, and MOE's approach to detecting and addressing bullying over the years.

Videos in September showed a boy punching a smaller Qihua Primary School boy, and a group of Bukit View Secondary School boys taunting a fellow student at the void deck of a Housing Board flat.