Children’s Day: Parents, Others Call Attention To Bullying

Parents and other stakeholders have called for urgent actions to be taken to stem the wave of bullying in schools and neighbourhoods.
The parents who spoke to National Point in Port Harcourt during the 2025 National Children’s Day said bullying did not only injure the children but could also impede their future.
The theme of this year’s National Children’s Day was Stand Up, Speak Up: Building A Bullying-Free Generation. The day was marked with march-past at public centres and special outings for children and parents at fun centres across the state.
At Hypercity Mall, Trans-Amadi, Port Harcourt, where a special programme was organized for children, a parent, Mrs. Dora Elewa, said she would not take kindly to people that bully children in school. “I send my children to school to come back with good results and not evidence of bullying all over their bodies. So, I say, ‘No!’ to bullying in schools,” Elewa said.
Mrs. Okigwe, another parent, recalled that her child was once bullied by her teacher. “The teacher flogged her and gave her bruises,” she said.
Parents seemed to be conscious about bullying in schools and are training their children on how to confront it. One parent who said bullying could impact the psychology of children. “It makes them sad. The bullied child will be scared of going to school.” She called on the authorities to look at and check bullying in schools, with attention also paid to the bullies in other to win them from the vice.
She however said that bullying was not only happening in school but also at home. “Sometimes, that child bullying can be as a result of his environment at home,” she said, and called for psychological evaluation of pupils in schools.
One father told National Point that he had enrolled his twin children in a martial arts class so that they could fence off bullies at school.
David, one of the children at the programme, told National Point that he had experienced bullying when he was poked with a pen.