Bullying: an element accentuating social segregation

Abstract

Universalisation of elementary education is an important goal for a democratic and welfare state like India. In the post-reform period of 1990s, the rapid processes of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation have brought in a shift from caste to class divisions not only across society, but also even among schools catering to different socio-economic groups. A serious concern that is accentuating the social segregation in school education is classroom bullying, which the upper and middle socio-economic classes believe is largely present in the government-run schools, where mostly the children of lower socio-economic status study. Policies which underscore the need for development of values to curb violence among children are not implemented, as they become mere rhetoric due to lack of precise implementation strategies. What is required is a more pragmatic approach at local level. In this paper the author has made an attempt to understand the problem of bullying across socio-economic groups through survey and personal observation of his own child in a government school.