Science and stories are the new tools to help students win the battle against bullying.

Bullying is the elephant in the room most schools are either not willing to address or simply choose to ignore. Even when Bengaluru saw a tragic suicide by a student who was a victim of bullying, it didn’t seem to ruffle many feathers in the country. The problem of bullying needs to be tackled at multiple fronts, both at home and school.

Some Bengaluru schools have started addressing the issue innovatively. They have sought the help of Val-Ed, a social enterprise dedicated to transformational character education in schools and colleges through innovative teaching methodologies. Val-Ed's value education programme, Saksham aims at addressing the problem of bullying in classrooms using science and other tools.

For instance, a typical Saksham class would first explain the meaning of Refraction as the bending of a wave when it enters a medium where its speed is different and then go on to say, “In refraction, objects always appear to be shallower than they are. Similarly, in life, an individual may appear to be someone he/she is not. One cannot judge others from their outer appearance". These words sum up the message educators are trying to convey in anti-bullying sessions -not to judge their peers.

Mayank Solanki, founder and lead teacher at Val-Ed, says, "A classroom lecture is sometimes the most ineffective way of conversation in India. Through a series of words alone, we cannot deliver the message that bullying is bad. A lecture can't help change the mindset of students who deliberately or inadvertently indulge in bullying and enjoy it. We need to cite examples before students by making them participate in activities that will send out a loud and clear message that bullying is an ugly and cowardly act."

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"Bullying is not restricted to students; teachers get bullied by students too and vice versa. A majority of schools conduct teacher training programmes only once a year. For good students, we need good teachers. That's why we have involved teachers in the programme," he added. As part of Saksham, even schoolteachers are trained by Val-Ed educators.

Besides science, the teachers also use stories, videos and real-life cases to highlight three aspects of bullying -what it does to people, how it impacts the bully and what can students do if they are bullied or see someone bullying. Saksham is currently being employed in 3 schools – Florence High School and Sarvodaya High School in Bengaluru and Bhartesh Group of Institutions in Belgaum.

image used for representational purposes only

Image Courtesy: mgmschoolnerul.com

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