Video of bullying at school goes viral

A video of students bullying a senior went viral on the web forcing a prominent school in south Delhi to call a meeting of parents on Thursday, and raising concerns over bullying and letting kids use cell phones.

School trustee Ashok Pratap Singh said an open house of parents and the school management has been scheduled for Wednesday to discus the issue. “The action against the students will be taken there,” Singh said told Deccan Herald.

He added, “School principal has taken appropriate and effective actions keeping in mind the welfare of students and their future.”

Asked whether the two students have been suspended, Singh said, “There are other ways of giving harsh punishment. And we should not forget the age of these kids. At this age they don’t know what they are saying or doing.”

The incident reportedly took place on Monday and was shot by a student on cell phone.
School principals said bullying among students is an open secret. “I won’t deny that bullying exists in schools. But the schools should have a proper mechanism to deal with the menace,” said Anju Puri, principal of DAV Public School in Vasant Kunj.

“Many times kids don’t come forward to report such incidents. So the people responsible to deal with the matter should be made more approachable to children,” she added.

L V Sehgal, Principal of Bal Bharati School on Pusa Road said students should be sensitised about the ill effects of ragging and bullying. “They should be told that they can harm someone if they indulge in it,” Sehgal said.

School heads said mobile phones have become a kind of necessary evil. “Parents say that they give phones to kids as the students have to go for tuition after classes,” said Puri. Sehgal finds mobiles “more of a distraction”.

Some parents said that cell phones should be out of bound of bound for kids.
“It should be a strict no no. We went to school without carrying cellphones. So today’s generation should also learn to do away with the cell phones while they are studying
in school,” said Anjali Madan, whose nephew studies in class 4.