Schools urged to stay updated on cyber trends and issues

Schools are encouraged to keep up to date on cyber trends and issues, such as through resources provided by the Ministry of Education (MOE), said a lead school counsellor from the ministry's guidance branch.

- Gabrielle Chan

Students also play an active role in alerting teachers when there are new online trends and platforms that are concerning, said Ms Jane Lim.

“In my current role of supporting school counsellors, I have observed that cyber-bullying incidents often extend from offline hurtful behaviours to online platforms and occur alongside other forms of bullying,” she added.

For example, some students may make “hurtful remarks” to their peers on social media or messaging apps, or create fake social media profiles impersonating others.

MOE was responding to queries from The Sunday Times about the recent spate of bullying cases that have made headlines, and how schools handle reports of bullying and put in place anti-bullying measures.

In September, two videos of bullying incidents surfaced online, showing primary and secondary school students hitting their fellow schoolmates.

“Bullying is not acceptable and has no place in our schools,” said MOE, adding that students are taught values of respect, care and empathy during character and citizenship education (CCE) classes.

“They are taught to walk away from bullies and seek help from trusted adults.