Those who record & share videos of bullying in schools may be punished: Maliki

To avoid further harming those involved.

March 07, 2025, 03:15 PM

Bystanders and those who record and circulate incidents of bullying in schools could be called out, counselled and punished, said Second Minister for Education Maliki Osman.

He was responding to parliamentary questions on school bullying and the recent Montfort Secondary School fighting incident during a parliamentary session on Mar. 7.

How MOE handles bullying incidents

Maliki reiterated that any form of hurtful behaviour is not acceptable and has no space in schools.

When an incident is reported, a school will conduct thorough investigations to understand the facts before deciding on the appropriate cause of action, Maliki said.

This could include both disciplinary and rehabilitative actions if a police report is filed.

He explained that the Ministry of Education (MOE) and schools would "prefer to handle each case sensitively to provide space and privacy for the students involved to learn from their mistakes and grow from the experience."

Providing balanced view

However, if a case is made public online, and the information provided is "unduly skewed," MOE may need to release details of the case, including actions of all who were involved, to provide "a balanced view of the entire incident," he said.

This is to be fair to educators and all parties involved, he explained.

"While we would hope that members of the public can remember that what they see or read online may not present the full facts of the case, they will often react emotively to what they see online, and form quick judgments on what had happened, or who was in the right or wrong in that incident."

MOE will also put out information on actions taken against all parties who share responsibility for the incident, including the initiator who started the fight and others who retaliated or joined in.

Bystanders and those who recorded the incident and shared the recordings online will also be "called out, counselled and punished" if necessary.

"This is to remind them not to do so, to avoid further hurting the ones who are involved, and to highlight to them that by sharing the recordings, they are endorsing the acts and are complicit to the act," Maliki said.

While firm actions will be taken to address the parties involved, the schools will also use the opportunity as "a teachable moment" to all its students, he added.

"We cannot form good conclusions from a video snippet, so I thank you for your concern for our students. So let us work together to protect schools as a safe space for our children to learn from their mistakes and to change and to grow."