Speaker
Description
Bullying in schools is a serious and unrecognized problem in Sri Lanka. Through my personal experiences and observations of unfortunate events in schools, I realized many students, parents and teachers still fail to understand what bullying is and recognize associated signs and behaviour patterns. Some believe bullying is a normal part of childhood that helps build stronger character, failing to understand its lifelong health problems.
To address this problem I conducted an awareness campaign. I designed posters, bookmarks and other stationery items to carry anti-bully messages into classrooms. I spoke to the public through market stalls. Recognizing the importance of my campaign; the two largest circulating English newspapers in the country carried my appeal; I was invited to speak at the Galle Literary Festival; and the largest online retailer in Sri Lanka partnered with me to spread my message during December 2024.
My campaign was limited due to lack of vocabulary to define and describe bullying in Sinhala and Tamil, the national languages spoken by the majority. It reflects the insignificance our society has placed on this problem. So, I wrote to; the Minister of Education; President; Prime Minister; UNESCO; and National Languages Commission of Sri Lanka, to highlight this issue and to initiate the government to look for solutions. I have appealed to the Sri Lankan government to introduce lessons about bullying in classrooms and declare a National Anti-Bullying Week targeting schools. I currently work to increase awareness and bring policy change to address bullying in Sri Lankan schools.
| Please indicate what type of scientific contribution it is | Not applicable |
|---|---|
| Please also indicate what kind of contribution it is: | Practitioner experiences |
