According to data from the University of Western Cape, bullying affects 58% of South African pupils, which lowers their self-esteem. If a student does not receive the counselling or other support they need to recover from bullying, it may impact their academic performance or lives.

Bullying in Schools: Is Self-Esteem Curriculum the Answer?

 “Am a good person”. Well, that is referred to as a “self-esteem curriculum,” not “affirmations.” 

The book “Self-esteem tells a tale of how several nations took a test, with Americans being the first to respond positively after introducing the self-esteem curriculum in school to the results despite not placing first overall. Research done by the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) in 2018 shows that 9.5% of teen death is suicide and the dominant cause is exam failure. 

Thanks to the self-esteem curriculum, a student can maintain high self-esteem even after failing an exam. The self-esteem curriculum teaches students to accept feedback appropriately and not feel inferior due to a single test failure. The self-esteem curriculum, by contrast, focuses on genuine self-esteem, which can assist students in South Africa and Africa as a whole.

Will a learner who has high authentic self-esteem be a bully? 

The answer is no. However, one must understand in depth of how-to approach bullying. Or do we apply the punishment to learners hoping it will tackle bullying at schools? The programs used in schools to combat bullying have an impact. Bullying is not something that must be discussed with students; it needs to be taught. We discuss bullying with students and inform them that it is wrong, but this does not make things right. A self-esteem curriculum should be introduced in schools, and advisedly, it should be a subject.  

Does self-esteem affect learners’ performance? 

Almost everything is rooted in our beliefs. Self-esteem affects our behaviour and perception, and learners’ academic performance is no exception. A learner with high self-esteem will tend to do well academically because self-esteem boosts our enthusiasm for daily activities. What affects a learner’s academic performance goes beyond the classroom environment and issues that arise in the class. 

CONCLUSION

Besides being taught about Maths, Science and other subjects, learners should be taught self-love and self-care. Certainly, we must love ourselves, but some—if not the majority—of those who battle with self-love do so not because they don’t want to but rather because they don’t know how. Education about self-esteem is one gap that needs to be bridged in schools. Learners who bully other learners also bully because they lack self-love. It is through bullying that they get satisfaction and feel good about themselves.