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Explainer | What to know about school bullying as new school year starts amid protest crisis – and how you can stop it
- New term begins with additional concerns for children of police officers and government officials
- Among a range of preventive measures, police have started providing portable alarms to children of officers
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The new school term begins on Monday with heightened concerns about campus bullying linked to the protest crisis that has rocked the city since June.
Police officials and Hong Kong’s education chief have warned against the harassment of the children of police officers and students with rival political views. The minister vowed to discipline educators who were found to have encouraged it.
Social workers, meanwhile, urged teachers to remain professional and cautioned against name-calling and students who “unfriended” or posted critical comments of their peers on social media.
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How serious is the school bullying threat in local schools?
Since the anti-government protests gained traction in June, police officers and their families have faced online harassment, including doxxing – the posting of a person’s personal details – and cyberbullying.
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The Junior Police Officers’ Association on Friday reported at least four instances of children of officers being bullied, including situations in which teachers allegedly condoned them or took part.
One cases involved the younger brother of an officer was exposed by classmates in a school WhatsApp group that also included a teacher. A barrage of abusive messages from classmates forced the officer’s brother to leave the group. The head of the association said the teacher had implicitly encouraged the bullying by not shutting down the anti-police messages.
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