BULLYING has become a serious threat to the physical safety, mental health, and future of children in Malaysia, with the number of reported cases rising annually, prompting urgent calls for legislative reform.
Children’s Commissioner Dr Farah Nini Dusuki said there is an immediate need for a dedicated Anti-Bullying Act to safeguard and rehabilitate child victims in Malaysia.
“Our current laws are only general in nature and implemented through school regulations, without any specific act in place,” she said. “What is even more worrying is the fact that bullying trends are increasing year after year.”
Dr Farah explained that the Office of the Children’s Commissioner supports a dual approach of both rehabilitation and legal enforcement to tackle bullying effectively.
According to data from the Ministry of Education (KPM), 76.1 percent of bullying cases take place in secondary schools, while 26.9 percent occur in primary schools. Alarmingly, there was a 79 percent increase in bullying incidents among primary school pupils between 2023 and 2024, involving children as young as seven years old.
The 2022 National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS), conducted by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), found that 8.6 percent of 33,523 students aged between 13 and 17 reported being victims of bullying, with Form One students being the most affected.
The most prevalent forms of bullying were verbal and physical teasing.
Further research has highlighted the profound impact of bullying on young people. A 2019 study by Abdul Razak et al. found that 18.3 percent of teenagers experienced depression linked to bullying. Another study by Ganapati revealed that 16.2 percent of students had been bullied within the 30 days prior to being surveyed, with those who were underweight or obese being the most frequent targets.
Sabra Mani’s 2021 study of 4,469 secondary school students found that 79.1 percent had been involved in bullying, either as victims or perpetrators.
Internationally, countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have not enacted specific anti-bullying legislation, instead enforcing strict school-level policies. However, Japan and the Philippines passed anti-bullying laws in 2013 with clear definitions covering not only repeated acts but also single incidents of serious harm.
“For Japan and the Philippines, both enacted laws in the same year, 2013. The legislation provides a clear definition,” Dr Farah explained. “It does not only include repeated acts, but also single but severe incidents. So, to say that it must be a repeated act limits the scope. Bullying can happen inside or outside the school environment.”
Bullying can carry both criminal and civil implications. In a landmark ruling last year, the Federal Court awarded RM6 million in compensation to a bullying victim, holding the school liable. Still, Dr Farah noted that legal action typically only occurs after damage has been done.
She proposed several key measures as part of best practices to combat bullying: a clear legal definition of bullying, mandatory protection policies and anti-bullying programmes across all schools including private and religious institutions, anonymous and secure reporting mechanisms, prompt and transparent investigations with mandatory reporting by all school staff, and a restorative approach through counselling, interventions and school-based recovery conferences—without immediate police involvement unless in serious cases.
“Many bullies actually started out as victims themselves,” she said. “No child should be punished—every child deserves to be protected.”
Dr Farah emphasised that bullying is not merely a school disciplinary issue but a serious child protection concern requiring coordinated efforts from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Department of Social Welfare, schools, parents, and other relevant agencies.
Minister of Education Fadhlina Sidek echoed this, stating that school administrators and teachers are fully responsible for tackling bullying without compromise.
“Bullying is not just an administrative regulation—it is a moral responsibility and a fundamental aspect of character education that must be upheld by everyone in the school community,” she said.
“There should be no fear or attempts to hide these incidents. This is a responsibility that must be fulfilled by all school leaders and administrators.”
Speaking at a joint press conference with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, after attending the Public Dialogue Session of the Federal Territory Anti-Bullying Tribunal, Fadhlina stressed that all cases must be reported according to existing procedures before being brought to the tribunal.
She also confirmed that the Ministry has implemented reforms to its complaints portal to ensure safety for students who come forward to report bullying. - September 11, 2025
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