13% of those who have been abused are clinically depressed. The trend worries the experts. Already in 2018, the country was second in the world in number of cases. There were 600,000 bullied pupils in Thailand's schools.
Bangkok (AsiaNews / Agencies) - About 92% of schoolchildren in Thailand have been subjected to physical or psychological abuse by peers at least once, while 13% are clinically depressed due to bullying, according to a recent survey by the Network of Legal Advocates for Children and Youth.
The study involved over 1,000 students, aged between 10 and 15 and from 15 schools across the nation. Of the young people who report having been victims of violence, 35% say they have been bullied at least twice a semester; 25% at least three or four times a week.
Bullying varied from physical abuse to verbal abuse and online abuse. 62% of respondents say they suffered head slaps from school friends; 43% that bullies have made fun of their parents' names; and 42% were humiliated with derogatory nicknames. Finally, almost 30% report having suffered some form of harassment or abuse through social media.
The survey, made public the day before yesterday in a forum organized by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation to raise public awareness of school bullying, also found that 26% of the victims are stressed; 18% report concentration problems; 16% no longer want to go to school; 15% have become introverted.
Athiwat Niammeesee, responsible for the team of researchers who conducted the survey, points out that the results show that the problem of bullying in Thailand has not improved over two years. In 2018, research by the Mental Health Department found that the country had the second highest rate of bullying in the world, with 600,000 school-age children victimized.