Anti-bullying policy to be launched next month

Evarist Bartolo speaks about bullying and education system • Video by Ray Attard

An anti-bullying policy will be launched next month, education minister Evarist Bartolo said. The details of this policy will be announced in due course. 

"People who are bullied have a choice - to take vengeance against the bully or to forgive them and act kindly to them," Bartolo told a hall of young students at the end of the Lacrimosa play.

"The second option is easy to preach about but not so easy to perform, yet it is the right choice."

He cited the case of a paralyzed student studying pscyhology at the university. "He could have taken spite against the world because of his condition, but instead he decided to study how to help others," Bartolo said. 
“The anti-bullying policy will be linked with positive behavior and respect,” Bartolo told MaltaToday. “We will work on a class and school level and discuss it with teachers, children and parents.”

Sandra Cortis speaks about Lacrimosa play

He added that children should go to school to learn about things, to learn how to do things, to learn how to develop as a person, and to learn how to interact with others.

“Our education system focuses heavily on teaching children about things and less on the other three values,” Bartolo said. “We need to work towards a proper education system that takes all four of these learning values into account.”  

"While we should feel empathy for the bully as well as for the victim, we must send out a clear message that people should not retaliate to bullying," Sandra Cortis, service manager of the education psychosocial services within the students services department, added.