IndexCurrent Policies in the MaldivesRecommendationsConclusionReferencesMost researchers and organizations have a different definition of bullying. The classic definition is first proposed by Olweus as “intentional and repeated acts that occur through physical, verbal and relational forms in situations where different power is present”. According to Olweus, a student is a victim of bullying when one or more students are repeatedly exposed to the negative outcomes of bullying. (Olweus,1994, P.1173). The Center for Disease Control (CDC) defines school bullying as any unwanted aggressive behavior by another group of youth other than siblings or current dating partners that involves a power imbalance observed repeatedly and likely to recur . (CDC, 2016). Furthermore, most definitions of bullying have similarities regarding the characteristics of bullying such as recidivism, attempts to inflict harm, power imbalance and anything that highlights the chronicity of bullying. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The emerging version of bullying is called cyber bullying. Both cyberbullying and traditional bullying are present in school. From the 1970s to 2004, traditional bullying was the only type of bullying in schools and other settings. After 2004, overt bullying via text messages and emails increased until the mid-2000s. Since then, however, the development of smartphones and increased use of social networking sites have offered many new tools to those who wish to hurt others. (Smith, 2013). Systemic abuse of power can be described as bullying. Power relationship will always exist in the social group due to strength or size, ability, strength of personality, numbers or recognized hierarchy. Bullying can occur in many contexts, including the workplace, home, prison and even at school. While not denying other contexts of bullying, school bullying can evoke particular revulsion because the problem is so general. School bullying can affect anyone as a child. Since children have no rights nor are they aware of the rights of adults, the impact will be high. Bullying is a complex problem among school students. This problem affects bullies, victims, and others who involve interpersonal violence. All types of bullying affect the child individually, collectively and contribute to the bullying of the child. Bullying is considered a global problem that impacts the emotional, social and physical well-being of school-age children. Furthermore, school bullying affects students' academic performance. Because bullied children experience fear and vulnerability while affecting students' personality and self-confidence. Victims who have been the target of bullying may have long-term emotional and behavioral problems that can lead to post-traumatic disorders. Victims of bullying have an elevated risk of depression and anxiety that can persist into adulthood. (Tsai & Gomba, 2012). Bullying is the most common form of school violence. School bullying is a serious problem worldwide and is one of the most common antisocial behaviors among adolescents and children. Bullying has been linked to other social problems such as suicide and the impact on the behavior of younger generations. In recent years, school bullying has emerged as a social problem of epidemic proportions in academia, the media and public debatein the Maldives. According to the 2014 Global Survey of Student Health in Schools, one in four children is a victim of bullying at school. The same survey concludes that students face mental and physical bullying at school. According to this survey, 7% of teenagers who are bullied in the Maldives are often kicked, hit, pushed, shoved or watched at home. Additionally, an untold number of students face cyberbullying inside and outside of school. Aside from that, before the strategy used to deal with bullies is to suspend the student. But now a restorative method is being used to deal with students who bully others. Bullying and victimization of adolescent students in primary schools in Malé. One study found that the prevalence of bullying is very high among students. Most students were victims of verbal bullying, followed by physical and indirect bullying. When analyzing the incidence of bullying in this report, 48% of students said they had been victims of physical bullying and 56% of students said they had been victims of verbal bullying. (Azlifa, 2015). Additionally, a large number of students who have been bullied and become bullies in adulthood join gang violence. Research into the rapid assessment of the gang situation in Male says that a large number of members who join a gang aim to take revenge for being bullied at school. And some of the participants say that most of the time teachers are not aware of what is happening in the classroom and even if they knew they don't do much about it. Furthermore, other participants report that discrimination between rich and poor often leads them to isolate themselves and when they grow up they often join gangs to overcome the sense of helplessness and inferiority. (Naaz, 2012). Current policies in the Maldives UNICEF and the Ministry of Education have collaborated to create and implement a national anti-bullying strategy to combat bullying in all its forms. Policy development and its activities require the involvement of teachers, students, parents and community members. Furthermore, the new policy is based on 14 consultations involving almost 500 students of all ages. These consultations have helped structure the policy and led to the combination of measures that students themselves believe will have the greatest impact. The current policy encourages everyone in the education system to take responsibility for preventing and eliminating bullying, including parents. Furthermore, the policy suggests creating parent groups and organizing awareness sessions for healthcare workers. In the current education system, the policy also attempts to address the lack of qualified counselors available to students. (UNICEF, 2019). The anti-bullying policy has clearly identified the roles and responsibilities of each person involved in this policy. The responsibility of the Ministry of Education, the responsibility of the principle and the responsibility of school employees are clearly written in the anti-bullying policy. Furthermore, this policy mentions awareness programs to be held for certain groups involved in this policy. Furthermore, this policy has been adopted to create awareness among students and those working in the education sector. (Anti-bullying policy, 2019). There are some limitations in this policy. Although 213 schools are operational in the Maldives, not all schools are equipped with a health officer and counselor. The policy states that each school must plan a support plan for the victim of bullying. Therefore, without a consultantadequate certificate, these objectives may not be achieved. Another limitation is that school staff, parents and students are not aware of this policy. The most important thing in setting a policy is to keep others aware of what is posted. So, raising awareness among parents, teachers and also students is very essential. Another limitation of this policy is that cyberbullying is rarely mentioned. Cyberbullying is a current emerging problem in the Maldives. Therefore, anti-bullying policy must highlight the interventions necessary to prevent cyberbullying. Today there are no students who do not use the Internet or other social media on a daily basis. There are no specific statistics on cyberbullying in the Maldives to establish the prevalence rate. Cyberbullying has grown very rapidly, and educators and researchers are understandably concerned that this problem is growing faster than the ability of educators and parents to respond effectively. An advantage of anti-bullying policies is that they can influence the behavior of students, teachers and even administrators as a school organizational practice. Policies may also include some actions such as requiring teachers to notify the administrator of the bullying incident and requiring the administrator to review the bullying case. Additionally, school-level policies can guide administrative activities, such as establishing protocols for reporting bullying incidents and creating public safety committees to develop and implement school safety policies. Another advantage is that the policy itself is an intervention for the bullying problem in the system. level. This intervention requires more targeted intervention programs, practices, and services at the organizational, group, and individual levels. For example, if a policy is established within the Ministry of Education, all schools should apply the same policy. Therefore, the policies lay the foundation for a set of more concrete and personalized measures to be implemented in schools by establishing priorities and recommendations in the policy document. (Hall, 2017). Recommendations Effective laws and policies are the first steps to guide researchers, educators, and policymakers to work together to create a positive school climate. Maldives anti-bullying policy is a very new policy which was implemented in 2018. Awareness among students, teachers and parents is very low. Implementing a policy means that everyone should be aware of the policies. It is important that everyone in this area knows the definition of bullying, the bullying prevention policies, the symptoms of bullying and the code of conduct. This will ensure that the same policy is applied in all schools. Teachers should participate in bullying prevention programs to learn more about bullying and its obligations. Additionally, it is important to clearly explain to students what behavior is considered bullying. Another recommendation is, in the classroom, to teach specific skills and strategies such as emotional awareness, seeing the perspective of others, alternative thinking strategies, and problem solving. Additionally, students and parents should be trained and supported in multiple ways to seek help with bullying. It is important that policies include an anonymous reporting procedure. School policies should include guidelines to educate all staff to prevent and recognize bullying. Additionally, this training should include recognition of the overlap between bullying and illegal behavior. (Cornell & Limber, 2016). To prevent bullying it is important to have a planof bullying prevention action in all educational services. Today, the most advanced form of bullying is cyberbullying. It is very important to provide a clear definition of cyberbullying in current policy. In addition to this, without creating a separate policy regarding cyberbullying, add cyberbullying to a type of bullying covered by a part of the anti-bullying policy. No research has been conducted on cyberbullying in Maldives, but this issue is becoming the most emerging problem in Maldives and other parts of the world. The current anti-bullying policy has only mentioned cyberbullying as a type of bullying. Instead of mentioning cyberbullying as a type of bullying, policy makers can include cyberbullying as part of a broader approach to bullying prevention. The policy should include evidence-based intervention for students on how to handle incidents if they appear to be of increasing importance. Additionally, the policy should include confidential reporting of cyberbullying to prevent young people from getting help. (Citic, 2011). While it is difficult to monitor cyberbullying in schools and districts. Therefore, policies must be put in place to educate students and assist victims as the consequences of online bullying often manifest themselves in schools. Educational institutions and schools that maintain a proactive approach to cyberbullying and whose policies include the provision of education, counseling and pro-social outlets will be very successful in reducing the prevalence of cyberbullying. Today in the Maldives not only Maldivian students are studying in schools. The probability that these students will become victims of bullying is very high. Prejudicial bullying is also a type of bullying that should be considered in anti-bullying policy. Prejudicial bullying is bullying related to a student's race, religion, faith, ethnicity, nationality, or culture. Therefore, it is very important to cover this area of ​​anti-bullying policy. Dr. Aishath Ali Naaz has provided recommendations in her research paper regarding the bullying situation in the Maldives. This study states that school education in religious values, with particular attention to non-violence and management of the problem of bullying, is extremely essential. Therefore, the policy may include some programs that need to be conducted annually regarding issues related to bullying. The policy should include the Islamic perspective of bullying and how to overcome it. Furthermore, in this research many participants stated that teachers are not aware of what is happening inside the classroom and some teachers ignore classroom situations. To address bullying, teachers are one of the most important people working in this area. The policy may include requiring teachers to complete certain training courses regarding bullying and techniques for dealing with bullies in the classroom. Furthermore, the policy may include, the teaching course should include awareness lessons on the policies and the field of study should have an idea about bullying. The school administrator must ensure that school policies include specific language about cyberbullying and the impact of cyberbullying and work diligently with teachers, parents, and students to raise public awareness. Furthermore, effective school policies should specifically include defining all possible meanings of bullying and providing education to aggressors. Additionally, policies should specifically address off-campus incidents and how these incidents will be addressed. The school should establish a procedure