Nurture empathy in children to stop bullying

I REFER to the report “Listen when children speak up” (The Star, Nov 20) on the recent Unicef survey held in conjunction with World Children’s Day which found that bullying is a prominent concern among Malaysian children, with seven out of 10 worried about becoming victims. The findings of the survey must not be swept under the carpet.

Bullying, whether physical, mental, verbal or via the Internet, can negatively impact the victim’s mental health. Indirectly, it affects the victims’ loved ones and carers too.