There is a distinction between bullying and occasional teasing among peers. Bullying is unwanted, repeated humiliation acts, and harmful behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. Bullying can be verbal, social, or physical, and people who bully typically use physical strength, access to embarrassing personal information, or influence over relational and social standing to control or harm others.   

Bullying, intimidation, harassment, and cruelty in school are never tolerated and must be reported immediately to the subject teacher/class adviser or school principal.  

After a thorough investigation, the school may give a warning or disciplinary sanction to the bully and/or involved student/s based on the severity of the offense and the harm done to the victim.  

The NI or P character grade affects only the applicable criteria which may or may not cause disqualification from academic honors, school awards, or termination of membership in a school organization.  

The parents receive a letter from the school to inform them of their child’s involvement in bullying. They may also be asked to come to school to discuss the incident and the penalties/disciplinary sanctions to be applied. 

A student may report any type of bullying via this email:  

quantumgrievancedirect@yahoo.com.    

See DepEd Order No. 88 s. 2018 for more.   

Bullying (Policy applies to TQA enrolled students only).  

Bullying acts include physical, emotional, mental, and cyber-bullying. Bullying cases or offenses shall be handled in accordance with Republic Act 10627 and DepEd Order No. 55, s. 2013. The penalties or disciplinary sanctions will depend on the severity or type of bullying. Disciplinary sanctions and penalties are private and confidential while the bully is serving the sanction and undergoing rehabilitation.   

Disciplinary Sanctions 

• Reprimand or warning by the teacher concerned or the school principal   
• Character grade of NI or P in the report card   
• Character rehabilitation with the guidance mentor   

• Guided suspension, on-campus suspension, off-campus suspension, etc.   
• Legal endorsement (for serious bullying)   
• Dismissal at the end of the school year   
• Immediate dismissal   

Types of Bullying  

Cyber-bullying:   

Use of any mobile device, platform, website, media, app, etc. on the internet to destroy, humiliate, scare, degrade, or demoralize others. Cyber-bullying usually happens at home or outside the school. It is the parents’ responsibility to monitor their child’s online behavior and actions.   

Physical Bullying:   

Any intentional and unwelcome use of physical contact to inflict pain, damage or steal property or belongings   

Disablist Bullying:   

Bullying motivated by a prejudice against people with any form of disability   

Verbal Bullying:   

Use of language/words to threaten or hurt others, like offensive teasing, put downs, gossiping, backstabbing, etc.   

Exclusion Bullying:   

Use of threats, action, or power to reject, exclude, hurt feelings, put down or damage others and/or their reputation   

Racial/Religion Bullying:   

Antagonism, prejudice, or unfairness directed towards someone based on his race or religion (color/physical appearance, language, beliefs, culture, faith, etc.)   

Sexual/Gender Bullying:   

Any unwelcome and uninvited touches, comments, attention, representation, and behavior that are found to be judgmental, humiliating, offensive, intimidating, unkind, and hurtful to one’s physical, mental, and emotional condition or his state of sexuality   

Gesture Bullying:   

Use of non-verbal signals (actions) or expressions to cause fear, intimidation or hurt others   

Relational/Social Bullying:   

Relational or social bullying often happens behind the back of the bullied person. It is usually set on increasing the bully’s own social standing by diminishing the standing of another child. Relational bullying is about harming a child’s reputation, causing humiliation, spreading rumors or lies, making faces at the child, mimicking the child, and encouraging or even rewarding others to socially exclude the child.  

Bystander to Bullying:   

Depending on the incident and degree of involvement, a bystander or someone observing, tolerating, supporting,   in collusion, or hiding a bullying act or plan by intentional manner that is damaging, threatening, humiliating, or hurting another student which may be in a form of lying, denying, ignoring, hiding, or keeping an information about a victim, a bully, or anything related to a bullying issue may or may not be sanctioned or penalized by the school depending on the impact and effect of bullying.   

A student can always choose to be an upstander. An upstander, unlike a bystander, takes positive action or reports to school authorities when they witness bullying or know someone else being bullied.