KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — A parliamentary town hall with students today revealed a critical flaw in the fight against school bullying: children do not feel safe using the official complaint systems for fear their identities will be exposed.
The candid feedback has prompted the Women, Children and Community Development Select Committee (WCCDSC) to refine its recommendations, with its chair, Yeo Bee Yin, expressing hope that a formal report on the issue can be debated in Parliament this session.
Speaking after the town hall, Yeo said the most striking and unanticipated finding was the failure of school complaint boxes.
While designed for anonymous reporting, students revealed the boxes are often placed in exposed areas, making them feel vulnerable.
“Children do not feel their privacy is protected,” she said, adding that students also voiced fears that teachers would discover their reports despite supposed confidentiality.
“This again shows how privacy is not prioritised in the current guidelines.”
WCCDSC deputy chairman Rodziah Ismail said she was struck by the students’ honesty and their clear lack of confidence in the system.
“When I asked whether they understood the bullying complaint system, they did. But they lacked trust,” she said.
She then juxtaposed this with their enthusiasm in the town hall today: “Everyone seemed like they had been waiting to speak.”
The committee will now compile the input from today’s session, which was supported by Unicef and Suhakam’s Children’s Commissioner, and meet next week to finalise its recommendations.
“We will prepare the report and submit it to the Speaker. If time permit, we hope to table and debate it in this sitting,” Yeo said.
