Sharjah Youth Calls for Development of Local App to Report Bullying

During a youth session titled ‘Bullying... Causes and Effects’ held on May 23 (Thursday), 80 members of the Sharjah Youth Parliament called for cooperation between stakeholders to tackle bullying in schools and developing an Emirati App targeting children, youth and parents to report bullying incidents

The call came during the first youth session of the Sharjah Youth Parliament, organised by Sharjah Youth and Sajaya Young Ladies (SYL) of Sharjah – affiliates of Rubu' Qarn Foundation for Creating Leaders and Innovators.

Participants at the session said such an app, developed in the UAE, would open direct communication channels with psychologists, social workers and education officials. They also called for establishing anti-bullying committees and raising the awareness of school students through special awareness sessions.

HE Afaf Al Marri, Director of Sharjah Social Services Department; Mariam Ibrahim Al Qaseer, Director of Social Education at the Social Services Department; Maryam Jaber Al Shamsi, Director of Early Childhood Department at Sharjah Special Education Authority; and Tahir Ahmed Al Mehrazi, Head of Learners Affairs Department at Sharjah Special Education Authority, attended the session. They participated in a lively discussion with the youth, listened to their ideas, proposed solutions and answered their questions relating to bullying.

Fatima Musharbek, Head of the Higher organising committee of Sharjah Youth Parliament, expressed her delight at the outcome of the session. She said the dialogue was vibrant between youth and officials. The parliament members had expressed their views and directed questions to officials who in turn had responded and shared their vision and experience.

She said: “What was interesting was the officials’ great reception to the youth’ suggestions on fighting bullying. This is the core purpose of this kind of event, to involve youth in community issues and have their opinions heard and their solutions taken into consideration and applied if they are feasible.” 

Sheikha Aisha Khalid Al Qasimi, Director of  SYL, Deputy Head of the higher organising committee of Sharjah Youth Parliament, commented: "This session stems from the vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and His Wife, Her Highness Sheikha Jawahar Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of Rubu' Qarn Foundation for Creating Leaders and Innovators, to nurture and support youth’s participation in decision-making and taking up leadership roles in order to become the driving force in Sharjah and the UAE.”

For her part HE Afaf Al Marri warned against relying solely on official institutions to tackle bullying. The director stressed that it would take the combined efforts of all stakeholders to stop bullying. She called on students to champion against bullying and come up with ideas and indicatives to protect their peers at school from the heinous practice.

Mariam Jaber Al Shamsi stressed that Sharjah and the UAE were keen to enlist the involvement of parents and educational institutions in fighting bullying. She noted  that it was not a new phenomenon, but tended to evolve, taking  different forms like verbal, physical and online bullying.

Tahir Ahmed Al Mehrazi said that in order to overcome bullying children’s rights should be implemented first with the help of  social support centres. Child and youth institutions should raise the awareness of children, parents and the educational cadre on the dangers and impact of bullying on the young generations through workshops, lectures and seminars.

For her part, Maryam Ibrahim Al Qassir, Director of the Social Education Department at the Social Services Department in Sharjah, explained that the first steps to reduce bullying incidents would involve instilling good values in students. She noted that her department was working on instilling 30 positive educational and social values to contribute effectively to limiting bullying and providing a safe environment for children and youth.

During the session which was held at Al Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre (JRCC), the Sharjah Youth Parliament members suggested the establishment of a nation-wide bullying watch for monitoring and examining reported cases. 

The youth also called for increasing supervision at schools and providing psychological help to bullied students. They also suggested selecting popular students to promote positive relationships between students and help resolve bullying cases amicably.

The parliament members called for teaching the younger generation social skills to interact with all segments of society. They also suggested forming an entity to cooperate with the Ministry of Education to train teachers and supervisors to intervene and resolve bullying issues, apart from creating anti-bullying programmes and holding awareness sessions.

The members also called for the establishment of centres for rehabilitation of bullies and holding weekly lectures at schools to raise their awareness about bullying was also suggested. Parents should be invited to such meetings, they said.

The Sharjah Youth Parliament was first launched in 2005, under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and the guidance of his wife, Sheikha Jawaher bint Muhammad Al Qasimi, Chairperson of Rubu' Qarn Foundation for Creating Leaders and Innovators.

The Sharjah Youth Parliament is one of the most important youth parliamentary experiences and it complements the Sharjah Children Shura Council, which was established in 1997, as Their Highnesses were keen to promote youth participation in public life, and to prepare them to play their role in serving the country and leading the nation's future.