Schools in Hong Kong must stand up to bullying or risk being enablers of such behaviour

Results from the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) survey, announced just last week, put Hong Kong students in third place in the world in collaborative problem-solving. This was followed by a round of very predictable self-congratulatory pats on the back that included a statement from the Education Bureau saying it was “pleased to learn” of the students’ “outstanding performance”, which “validates that Hong Kong education is heading in the right direction”.

Contrast that with the bureau’s eerie silence when the Pisa results on student well-being were released. In April, Pisa found that our 15-year-olds came third from bottom in life satisfaction. Studies in Hong Kong consistently point to the heavy price of our academic excellence: our students are stressed, depressed, and bullied.

Earlier this year, a video clip surfaced that showed disturbing evidence of on-campus hazing: a student of one of our top universities used his genitals to slap the head of another male student, who was pinned down by at least two others. Many people were outraged. But, unless something is done about it, we are doomed to be outraged again and again.

The latest case of a Primary One student who had to have a pencil-tip eraser surgically removed from his ear canal is shocking. We know that children can be mean and cruel, of course, but the school’s handling of the alleged bullying clearly fell short.

The child’s mother had lodged six separate complaints since the beginning of the school year, with the boy saying he had been poked in the eye and slapped in the face. The school involved looked into the matter, verified some of the complaints but concluded that there was no evidence of the eraser being placed by another child.