Anti-Bullying and Mental Health Seminar Held at Kuching High School

suppadmin | November 14, 2025

An Anti-Bullying school seminar titled “Every Child Belongs to All of Us” was held at Kuching High School today to raise students self awareness and mental health crisis among youth, said MBKS Cr Eric Tay.

Tay said in today’s society, where students’ mental health and campus safety are increasingly prioritized, bullying, e-cigarette addiction, and excessive pressure among teenagers have become three critical concerns that cannot be ignored.

The event received professional support from Sarawak General Hospital, attracting over 700 students and teachers where students were encouraged to actively participate in discussions.

“Bullying is not trivial; psychological trauma is deeper than visible injuries.”say Psychiatrist Dr. Ngau Wah Chin from Sarawak General Hospital.

Drawing on years of clinical experience, Dr. Ngau outlined the common root causes of bullying that included excessive emotional stress and inability to express feelings.

He said many teenagers face academic pressure, family expectations, and peer pressure but lack healthy outlets, which may manifest as aggressive behavior, estranged parent-child relationships prevent children from gaining emotional security and learning to resolve conflicts in a healthy way. Besides he added that some bullies are inherently vulnerable, using harm as a way to gain temporary control or a sense of superiority and to fit in, students may engage in exclusion, ridicule, or humiliation of others.

“A student who is being bullied may appear fine to outsiders, but internally they experience tremendous fear and anxiety. Silence does not mean absence of pain; it means fear of being ignored.”he added.

Dr Ngau called for simultaneous intervention from schools and parents, families to provide a secure foundation and schools to implement clear and firm anti-bullying policies.

He further warned that long-term victims of bullying may experience anxiety, insomnia, and nightmares, stress-related physical symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, or stomachaches, emotional breakdowns and self-denial, social withdrawal or school avoidance and In extreme cases, self-harm tendencies.

“The psychological trauma caused by bullying may take years to heal,” he stressed.