Bullying is defined as the act of tormenting someone by putting them under pressure, threatening, and assaulting them in any form. It has been normalized in society to the point that it became a widespread common practice for peers to bully each other. According to studies 6 out of 10 Filipinos are regularly bullied in school. A person might perform an act and not consider it as bullying—thus causing a ripple effect that can ruin someone's life. Bullying happens everyday, it takes place anywhere, you may not see or hear it, but we can assure you that it does happen. 

The environment of the Nursing program is stressful enough as it is since students are commonly pitted against their peers and the fear of failure is apparent. If online bullying is not addressed in a time where our main communication for classes is online, the mental health of The Nursing students would be at great risk. Aside from the added pressure of doing well in academics, online harassment can lead the students to intense anxiety, depression, and sometimes long-term damage to their self-esteem. As future nurses, we would want to preserve the mental health of our fellow batchmates while encouraging all students to model professional behavior in the long run.

The pandemic greatly affected the way students receive education. It conducted into an online setup where students communicate with their professors and fellow students virtually. However, this is not a guarantee that the incidence of bullying has reduced because it is still possible in this kind of setup. One form of bullying, that became rampant together with the rise in technology, is cyberbullying. This is why solutions for this problem should also be geared towards this type of bullying.  

With that being said, the first solution that our organization would like to propose is to incorporate the internet & social media into lesson plans and grab this as an opportunity to teach students how to be a responsible netizen. We believe that this is a great way of solving this problem because students will be able to accomplish academic tasks while being reminded on what to and what not to do in the online world.

Secondly, the level of awareness about cyberbullying in the community could increase by conducting seminars/programs that tackle this issue. Cyberbullying does not affect everyone and this could result in some people to not pay attention to this social issue. But with programs that will have cyberbullying as its theme, it will be able to reach more people, resulting in a community who is aware of what actions they should take once they see incidences of cyberbullying.

Lastly, our group proposes some improvements for the guidance office’ anti-bullying groups. We recognize and appreciate it because it encourages students to be open about their experiences and it is concrete proof that the institution does not tolerate bullying. However, we would like to improve the system of this program by appointing point persons in every class. Representation is important and this will surely help in reaching more people within the nursing program.