FILE - Students line up on the first day of their new school year at a government school in Giza – Reuters
CAIRO – 16 September 2018: Hala Abu Khatwa, head of communication at UNICEF Egypt, said that 70 percent of children in Egypt with ages ranging between 13-15 years old are being bullied.
UNICEF stands for the United Nations Children Fund
In an interview with Al-Hekaya program on MBC on Saturday, Abu Khatwa said that this high percentage does not mean that children in Egypt are hostile. However, they are just not aware of the dangers of bullying that may lead a bullied person to commit suicide.
Abu Khatwa also said that bullying is a common phenomenon worldwide among 50 percent of children.
Bullying is a type of violence intentionally and repeatedly exercised by a child on another child in person or online, ranging from physical harm to verbal and psychological abuse which can lead to exclusion, depression and sometimes suicide. It is a terrible phenomenon against which several actors have decided to join hands.
Under the auspices of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), Egypt’s first national campaign calling to end peer-to-peer violence was launched in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education (MOETE) in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and funded by the European Union (EU).
No child should experience the anxiety and hurt that bullying puts them through, which – just as all types of violence against children – is likely to impair healthy brain development, cause low self-esteem and in severe cases can lead to suicidal feelings,” stated Dr. Azza al-Ashmawy, secretary general of NCCM.
“This campaign urges children, parents and caregivers to speak up against bullying in educational and non-educational settings, and seek guidance from trained professionals through the national Child Helpline 16000 that provides 24/7 support, and is also an active channel to report severe cases, in which the safety of a child is at risk,” Ashmawy added.
A study conducted by NCCM and UNICEF in 2015 on three governorates showed that the highest level of violence facing children occurs at home, followed by school, with 29 to 47 percent of children (aged 13-17) reported that physical violence among peers was commonplace.
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