KUCHING: Integrated efforts from all parties are required to curb gangsterism and bullying in schools.
St Joseph’s Private School principal Father Francis Lim said that teachers and students must play an active role in being alert and stopping gangsterism and bullying in schools.
“Nobody should say that it is not their problem. It affects everyone because each one of us is interconnected. When a person is harassed, somehow the circle will come back to us.
“School administrations must be strict in upholding the regulations of the school,” he said when contacted by New Sarawak Tribune on Friday (July 17).
He was commenting on Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador who said earlier that he and his team were on a mission to clean up gangsterism culture in Malaysia, including at the school level.
Abdul Hamid said that any individual who claimed to be a gangster would be arrested and taken action against under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).
Father Francis said while there were no incidences of gangsterism in St Joseph’s Private School, the school had what he considered as the milder form of gangsterism, namely bullying.
“Bullying is equally as bad as gangsterism because they both disrespect the dignity of another human person,” he said.
He said that gangsters or bullies took advantage of people who were timid and prone to being oppressed, especially from students who were peers.
