Chapter IV

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter presents the data and responses from the

pupil-participants gathered through the formulated questions

during the conduct of the study. The topical discussion is

based on the sub-problems of the study, as follows: Profile

of the Pupil-participants; Bullying Situations Experienced

by the Pupil-participants; Reasons of Bullying; How Bullying

Experiences Affect Pupil-participants’ Life; How Pupil-

participants Overcome Bullying; and Common Themes.

Profile of the Pupil-participants

Table 1 presents the personal profile of the pupil-

participants in terms of age, sex, parents’ educational

attainment, parents’ occupation, and family income.

As shown, out of 10 pupil-participants, 9 or 90% of

them are 10-12 years old while 1 or 10% is aged 13-15 and

none is 16 and above years old. This means that almost all

of the pupil-participants are 10-12 years old.

As to the sex of the pupil-participants, 10 or 100% of

them are females and none is male. This signifies that all

participants are females.

With regards to their parents’ educational attainment,

results revealed that 7 or 70% of their father are

elementary level; while 1 or 10% is high school graduate,

high school level and elementary graduate, respectively. On

the other hand, 4 or 40% of pupil-participants’ mothers are

elementary graduates; 3 or 30%, high school graduates; 2 or

20% are elementary level; and 1 or 10% is college level. The

results imply that a greater majority of the pupil-

participants’ fathers are educated at the elementary level

while many of their mothers are elementary graduates. It

further revealed that none has attended higher level of

education.

With respect to parents’ occupation, 8 or 80% of

fathers engage in farming while 2 or 20% are government

employees. Conversely, 9 or 90% of pupil-participants’

mothers do farming as a source of living while 1 or 10% is a

government employee. This shows that most parents of the

pupil-participants are farmers. Likewise, it can also be

gleaned that neither is employed in the private sector nor

self-employed.

Moreover, as to the family income of the pupil-

participants, it shows that 9 or 90% have a family income of

5,000.00 and below while only 1 has a family income of

5,001.00 to 10,000.00. This proves that the pupil-

participants are living below the poverty line as none has

higher income earned.

 Table 1

Profile of the Pupil-participants

Profile F P (%)

Age
10-12 yrs. old 9 90.00
13-15 yrs. old 1 10.00
16-above yrs. old 0 0.00

Sex
Male 0 0.00
Female 10 100.00

Parents’ Educational Attainment

Father
Doctoral Degree Holder
With Doctoral Units
Master’s Degree Holder
With Master’s Unit
College Graduate
College Level
High School Graduate
High School Level
Elementary Graduate
Elementary Level
0 0.00
0 0.00
0 0.00
0 0.00
0 0.00
0 0.00
1 10.00
1 10.00
1 10.00
7 70.00

Mother
Doctoral Degree Holder
With Doctoral Units
Master’s Degree Holder
With Master’s Unit
College Graduate
College Level
High School Graduate
High School Level
Elementary Graduate
Elementary Level
0 0.00
0 0.00
0 0.00
0 0.00
0 0.00
1 10.00
3 30.00
0 0.00
4 40.00
2 20.00

Parents’ Occupation
Father
Gov’t Employee 2 20.00
Private Employee 0 0.00
Farming 8 80.00
Self-employed 0 0.00
 Mother
Gov’t Employee 1 10.00
Private Employee 0 0.00
Farming 9 90.00
Self-employed 0 0.00

Family Income
5,000.00 and below 9 90.00
5,001.00 – 10,000.00 1 10.00
10,001.00 – 15,000.00 0 0.00
15,001.00 – 20,000.00 0 0.00
20,001.00 and above 0 0.00

Bullying Situations Experienced by the Pupil-participants

The responses of the participants from the conducted

focus group discussion enabled the researcher to come up

with the following analysis. To maintain anonymity of the

participants, coding was done. The first participant was

labelled P1 for Participant 1; followed by P2, Participant

2; until P10 or Participant 10.

The phenomenon of bullying is complex and is influenced

by the social interplay between perpetration and

victimization as a result of cumulative factors among and

within individuals, families, peer groups, schools,

communities, and cultures (Hong & Espelage, 2012).

Pupil-participants responded that they have experienced

bullying at different circumstances. P7 indicated that she

was bullied by her classmate verbally, saying that she was

dull because she can’t read.

 Ang akong kasinatian nga ako gidaog-daog katong

giingnan ko nga bogo sa akong classmate kay dili ko kabalo

mobasa.

“My experience being bullied was my classmate called me

dull because I don’t know how to read.”

This proves that pupils tend to experience more

bullying at school where intelligent pupils bully inferior

ones. This may be because pupils spend most of their time at

school interacting with their teachers and classmates.

Though not explicitly stated but P4 and P8 also affirm to

this stating that they were also bullied by their classmates

especially boys.

The home where a child’s personality is cultivated

could also become a venue for bullying.

P2 expressed that she there are times in which she was

mistreated by her parents and it made her sad.

Naguol ko kay adunay mga panahon nga gidaog daog ko sa

akong mga ginikanan...

“I was sad because there were times when I was ill-

treated by my parents...”

Verbal and psychological types of bullying were also

pointed out by the participants when asked about their

experiences. P1 and P2 claimed that they felt very sad and

depressed knowing that they were bullied by the people

around them.

In addition to, P9 said that commonly she experienced

spitefulness and torment by others.

Gidaogdaog ko sa uban sama sa paghinaway ug

pagpanakit.

“I felt oppressed as others torment and were spiteful

towards me.”

Being different the way others see us could lead them

to discriminate us. People tend to judge others based on

their outward appearance. And when someone fails to meet

this criterion of beauty, he/she is mocked and/or

criticized. P6 stated that:

Gidaog daog ko sa uban tungod kay lagi lagom daw ko ug

murag takuling akong panit.

“I was bullied by others saying that I have charcoal-

like skin because it is dark in color.”

Furthermore, aside from the aforementioned bullying

situations, one participant noted that hers having poor

hygiene and health condition made her a subject of bullying.

P5 expressed that she was bullied because she had a

swimmer’s ear before. She was ridiculed by people around her

because of this.
 Ang akong kasinatian nga gidaogdaog ko tungod kay

gibungog ko, baho daw akong dalunggan.

“My experience in bullying was due to my swimmer’s ear.

My ear smells, they say.”

The participants have different bullying experiences as

indicated by their responses. The broad and complex nature

of bullying alongside with how and where it occurs is

clearly denoted in the answers of the participants.

Reasons of Bullying

A number of reasons were identified as to why the

pupil-participants were bullied. These ranges from domestic

reasons, poor academic performance, physical appearance,

etc.

Domestic maltreatment among children could make them

feel less loved and will later on become introverted,

anxious, insecure, cautious, sensitive, and quieter than

other children (Cranham & Carroll, 2003).

P2 maintained that she felt sad for the ill-treatment

given to her by her parents.

Naguol ko tungod sa pagdaogdaog ko sa akong mga

ginikanan kung makasala ko. Bisan sa kagamay sa akong sayup

apan kasakit jud akong madawat gikan sa akong mga igsoon ug

mga ginikanan.
 “I felt sad because of my parents’ punishment whenever

I do mistakes. No matter how small my fault is but all I

received was pain from my siblings and parents.”

P4 also revealed that her siblings also bully her

whenever she refused to do the things, they want her to do.

Likewise, P3 expressed that her gender caused her to

become a subject to bullying.

Ila ‘kong gidaogdaog tungod kay usa ko ka babaye...

“They bullied me because I am a girl...”

Steele (2019) states that it is impossible to predict

who will get bullied based on their age, sex, race, class,

sexual orientation, national origin or any other factor.

Bullying occurs to people in all of these categories, and no

one combination of traits can guarantee that a child will or

will not be bullied. Further, she indicated that while males

and females are equally likely to face physical

intimidation, girls face a larger chance of relational

bullying (teasing or emotional aggression) and electronic

bullying.

Health conditions and disabilities can also be grounds

for bullying. As P5 indicated, hers having swimmer’s ear was

the reason why she bullied. She also pointed out that her

lack of personal hygiene and not wearing of clean clothes

caused the discrimination towards her.

 Another reason seen from the bullying experiences of

the pupil-participants is poor physical appearance. Despite

the common belief that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder

and inner beauty is a true measure of being beautiful,

however, people most of the times criticized one’s outward

appearance without finding his/her entire personality. P6

stated that she was bullied because her skin color is

different from others.

Ang rason nganung ila kong gidaog daog tungod kay lahi

akong color nila.

The article released by the Welsh Government (2011)

contends racism is behavior or language that makes a pupil

feel unwelcome or marginalized because of their color,

ethnicity, culture, religion or national origin. It is when

a person is teased or called names because of their culture

or the color of their skin, their religion, the country they

come from, their language and the way they talk, the food

they eat, clothes they wear or their background.

The website, www.beyondbullying.com, affirms that

racist bullying in schools can range from ill-considered

remarks, which are not intended to be hurtful, to deliberate

physical attacks causing serious injury. Racist bullying can

be identified by the motivation of the bully, the language

used, and/or by the fact that victims are singled out

because of the color of their skin, the way they talk, their

ethnic grouping or by their religious or cultural practices.

Children who have inferior performance at school tend

to become subjects of bullying. This is observed in P7’s

response as she said that:

Ang rason nganong laiton ko tungod kay gahilomhilom

rako sa among klase. Dili ko muapil kung mobasa na sila.

Sige pud ko ug absent mao maglisud ko ug basa.

“The reason why I was bullied because I was silent in

the class. I also won’t join them [classmates] when they

were reading. I also had lots of absences which hindered my

learning to read.”

Chandran, R., et al. (2018) pointed out that bullying

is found to be existing among many school students. Bullying

mainly occurs within the school that is, in playground,

classroom, between classes, while commuting to and from

school and is specially observed in primary school level.

Chandley (2005) maintains that power imbalance is another

issue with bullying where the stronger person is more likely

to dominate the weaker person. Another type of power

imbalance occurs when individuals feel more powerful because

they are in a group where they have peers as their audience

and support. Students who are less popular or those who seem

different may be more likely to experience bullying than

others. Moreover, Gordon, S. (2019) discloses that bullies

often target special needs children. This can include

children who have Asperger’s, autism, ADHD, dyslexia, or any

condition that sets them apart. Kids with conditions like

food allergies, asthma, Down syndrome, and other conditions

also can be targeted by bullies. When this happens, the

bullies show a lack of empathy or are making jokes at

another person's expense.

Pupil-participants have also pointed out that since

they refuse to retaliate from the offenders, they became

bullied over time.

Despite all these clear circumstances of bullying,

however, most pupil-participants indicate that they are

unaware of the motives of bullying.

How Bullying Experiences Affect Pupil-participants’ Life

The consequences of bullying can range from mild

discomfort to lifelong antisocial behavior or even death

(Kaltiala-Heino, et al., 1999; as cited by Chandley, 2005).

It has been found that bullies and the victims of bullying

feel the effects of the behavior well into adulthood

(Mishap, 2003). These readings from other related studies

justify pupil-participants’ responses on the effects

bullying has brought to their lives.

 Steele (2019) reported that the long-lasting

psychological impacts stem directly from the short-term

impacts that children experience as the result of being

consistently bullied. Depression and anxiety tend to

characterize their emotional outlook well beyond the

bullying years, extending into their adult lives where they

become chronic, sometimes lifelong, problems. These issues

make eating, sleeping, working, exercising and engaging in

interesting hobbies – all the hallmarks of a full, balanced

life – more difficult. They also make it more difficult to

make and keep relationships, whether with friends or

romantic partners.

Further, Al-Ali & Shattnawi (2018) found that victims

of bullying reported poor mental and physical health, more

symptoms of anxiety, depression; feeling sad, being

loneliness; vomiting; sleep disturbance; nightmares; body

ache; a headache; abdominal pain, and frequent illnesses.

This, in turn, increases students’ absenteeism either from

direct physical or indirect psychological impact.

P1 stated that bullying hurts her emotionally and even

led to a point where it affected her health condition.

Usahay magsakit ko, hilantan...pero ako gayong mafeel

nga sakit kaayo sa dughan ang ilang gibuhat sa akoa.

 “Sometimes I got sick, fever...but most of the time,

heart aches because of the things they did to me.”

Bullying also causes physical pain apart from emotional

distress. This is seen in P2’s response:

Sa pagdaogdaog sa akong mga ginikanan, nalabhag ko agi

sa kahoy nga gihampak kanako.

“I got beaten up by my parents and had received bruises

from their floggings.”

Apart from that, pupils who were bullied by their

classmates and peers were disturbed and experienced loss of

enthusiasm to go to school. P3, P5, P6, P7, P8, P9 and P10

responses all point to these as stated below:

Nawad-an kog gana nga moeskwela. Nag-inusara nalang ko

ug dili ko ganahan mushare sa uban. Niabot jud sa punto nga

dili nako ganahan makig-amiga o amigo sa uban.

“My desire to go to school was lost. I chose to be

alone because I didn’t want to talk with other people. I

became secretive and eventually came to a point where I

didn’t want to make friends or be with others anymore.”

Al-Raqqad, H.K., et al. (2017) states that bullying at

school affects academic achievement since bullied children

feel fear and weak and in the same time it affects students’

personality traits and self-confidence. Therefore, such

situation makes bullied students unable to follow or to pay

attention for their study well and even they might do not

like to go to school. Moreover, they miss opportunities to

participate with their colloquies or even enjoy school

activities.

Additionally, the UCLA study, as cited by Barrington,

K. (2018), found out that bullying and low academic

achievement are frequently linked. Students who are

repeatedly bullied receive poorer grades and participate

less in class discussions. Likewise, students may get

mislabeled as low achievers because they do not want to

speak up in class for fear of getting bullied. Hence, once

students get labeled as ‘dumb,’ they get picked on and

perform even worse.

How Pupil-participants Overcome Bullying

Some of the pupil-participants indicated that they

chose to forgive the people who bully them though they find

it hard to do so. They consider it as the most reasonable

option as they can do nothing about it. Later on, they

realize that the pain caused by their unpleasant experiences

has slowly faded and they learn to forget it.

P1, P3, P4, P6, P8, P9, and P10 have all pointed out

that:
 Sa paglabay sa panahon, nakat-onan nako nga pasayloon

ang mga tawo nga nakapasakit nako bisan lisud. Ako nalang

gibalewala ang tanan kay wala man pod koy mahimo, ako lang

ang masakitan. Imbes nga pansinon naku ang ilang

pagpangdaot sa akoa, ako nalang gilingaw-lingaw akong

kaugalingon uban sa akong mga higala.

“Later on, I learned to forgive those who’ve caused me

pain and burden no matter how difficult. I chose to ignore

everything because I am powerless against it and I am the

only one who’s hurting. Instead of giving attention to

humiliations and torments, I spend leisure time together

with my friends to keep me happy.”

In addition, P4 purported that she had learned to

forgive everyone who had wronged her because she believed

that God has taught His children to forgive their enemies

hence, it is her solemn responsibility to do such.

Meanwhile, the rest of the pupil-participants claimed

changing oneself for the better it the best thing to do.

They felt that they are part of the reason why they are

bullied. They tolerated it so it continued.

P2 claimed that her bullying experiences stopped when

she avoided doing the things which, for her, are the reasons

of maltreatment.
 Napapas ang akong pagdaog-daog sukad nga wala nako

nagpasaway.

According to www.keepyourchildsafe.org, the best way to

limit a child's exposure to bullying is by finding ways to

avoid the bullies in the first place. Every steps taken to

keep the bully and the victim on separate paths will reduce

their burden that much more. It can make all the difference

between a child who is reaching their breaking point every

day versus one who is hurt and annoyed by the bullying but

can otherwise still function effectively in their daily

lives.

P5 who was bullied because of poor hygiene have learned

to value cleanliness and self-care.

Gibantog nako ang ilang pagdaog-daog sa akoa. Naligo

na ko kada adlaw. Nakat-on ko nga manglimpyo sa akong

kaugalingon.

This response of P5 is supported by the results of the

study of Murshid (2018) which indicate that after accounting

for demographic and confounding factors, students with good

hygiene were less likely to experience bullying

victimization when compared to students with poor hygiene.

This is because poor hygiene elicits disgust for two

reasons: the fear of infectious diseases and class

differences. The study findings highlight that poor hygiene

is not only directly related to poor health due to higher

exposure to infectious diseases as demonstrated by extant

research, but it is related to higher risk of experiencing

bullying victimization, highlighting a link between two

structurally produced social problems, poor hygiene and

bullying, that are often seen as individual and

interpersonal ones.

Likewise, P6 strongly believed that being different is

not deficient. To her, having dark skin is not a hindrance

for her to learn.

Naningkamot ko nga bisan lahi akong pamanit wala kini

nakaapekto sa akong pagtuon.

P7 strive to do well in her studies and to not to be

absent. She was encouraged to learn how to read so she won’t

be bullied by her classmates.

Naningkamot ko nga makamao mobasa ug dili moabsent

para dili ko daog-daogon.

The study of Chandran, R. et al. (2018) found that the

academic performance of a student is influenced by bullying

behavior, victim behavior, extracurricular activity,

aggression and self-esteem. Regression analysis revealed

that the academic performance of the victims is negatively

affected. When these students are involved in

extracurricular activities, the result shows that this could

improve their academic performance. The result of the study

further shows that the students who bully other students

show excellent academic performance. On comparing the

victims and the bullies, students who are excellent in their

studies are likely to be bullies. Involvement in the

extracurricular activity of the students can improve the

academic achievement of the children by downsizing the

negative issue of bulling. Since extra-curricular

achievements has a positive issue on academic performance,

the study recommends that parents and teachers should

encourage their wards to participate more in extra-

curricular activities. Schools should also provide ample

facilities that are required for the students to engage in

these activities. The results and recommendations of the

cited study are viewed by the researcher as important

support to the response of P7. Hence, it is deduced that

learners who endeavor and have better performance in school

can become less of a target of bullies.

Common Themes

This part of this chapter discusses the common themes

emerged from the data corpus. The result of the analysis of

data led the researcher to identify 5 common themes. The

thematic presentation is shown in Figure 2 of page 25.

Discussion of these themes was organized and presented below

supporting each theme with data extracts.

Forgiveness

The first theme focuses on forgiveness. This is related

to pupils’ awareness of bullying and on how they overcame

their bullying experiences.

School bullying can be difficult to combat, and so

inevitably some students will be targeted. Therefore, it is

argued that students need to be equipped with effective

coping resources for dealing with the negative effects of

being bullied. Egan & Todorov (2009) asserted that

forgiveness is a coping strategy for overcoming the negative

emotional impact of these offenses. While bullying damages

its targets’ health and wellbeing, forgiveness has been

found to provide benefits in these areas. Thus, forgiveness

presents itself as a coping strategy with potential for use

in the context of school bullying.

This idea was further explained by Worthington &

Scherer (2004) as cited by Watson, H., et al, (2015) who

conceptualized forgiveness as a coping strategy employed in

response to interpersonal transgressions, betrayals, and

other such offenses.

 P1 and P4 were found to have used the construct of

forgiveness as a resource to fully heal from the experiences

and to overcome other hurtful offenses. P1 stated that:

Sa nilabay nga daghang adlaw, akong gipasaylo ang

akong mga igsoon ug classmates. Para sa akoa, lisod gayud

pasayloon and mga tawong nakasala sa imong kinabuhi pero

akong gituyo nga pasayloon sila. Kadugayan, nawala na ang

sakit nga gibuhat nila sa akoa.

“As time passes by, I have forgiven my siblings and

classmates. I believed that forgiving someone is not easy

but I did it, nevertheless. Later on, the pain they’ve

caused me was gone.”

P4 declared that:

Ako nalang gidawat ang tanan nilang pagbiay-biay

tungod kay kung ila kong daogdaogon, ako raman silang

pasayloon. Nagtuo ko nga kay ang Dios makapasaylo man, nan

ako usab isip tawo ug Iyang binuhat.

“I accepted all the torments and shame because whatever

they do towards me, I forgive them. I believed that for God

forgives, then I should as well-as a man and His being.”

It is proposed that targets of school bullying could

utilize forgiveness in order to recover from the emotional

hurt of being bullied. Operating via the process of

emotional juxtaposition (Worthington & Wade, 1999),

forgiveness could allow students to replace bullying induced

negative emotions with positive emotions. Forgiveness could

also act as a buffer against the impact of bullying: those

who are more forgiving have been found to possess superior

physical and mental health (Berry & Worthington, 2001),

which could be protective against future offenses.

Acceptance

Bullying affects, not only the victim, but also the

bully. Both victims of bullying and bullies are at

increased risk for a host of social, academic, and mental

health problems. What’s more, victims of bullying who blame

themselves—feel that the bullying was warranted—are more

likely to experience risks, such as depression,

maladjustment, and a continued cycle of bullying.

Schools, however, can take action to make a difference

and decrease instances of bullying. When students who are

bullied have access to supportive adults or peers, there are

positive outcomes. Teachers and faculty who take the time

to listen to a student who has been bullied and who follow

up with them to ensure that the bullying has stopped make a

positive difference.

Something else that schools can do to support students

is work with them to foster a sense of self-acceptance, or a

positive outlook and acceptance of oneself, no matter what

is going on externally. When students accept themselves, and

all of their strengths and weaknesses, they are much less

likely to engage in bullying behaviors, as well as less

likely to be a victim of bullying. When our students have a

strong sense of self-acceptance, it means that they are okay

with who they are, flaws and all, and they do not feel the

need to be like someone else.

One way to foster self-acceptance in students is to

engage them in reflection on their own strengths and

weaknesses—their own thoughts, attitudes, character

(Sailors, 2017).

In addition to, Van Rij (2015) mentioned that there’s

this one thing students can do to stop bullies in their

tracks—that is, “own your uniqueness.” In other words, truly

accept who you are.

She claimed that the very thing that is causing

students to be bullied is the thing that can also stop

bullying. Ownership of the things that we are physically,

the things that we are inside, and the things others can’t

see, is what will halt the nature of a bully. If students—

and anyone for that matter—can learn to accept who they are,

no matter what it is, their attitude will be different.

People who are accepting of themselves project confidence

and security and do not get bullied.

 The reply of P6 implicitly revealed that she accepted

other people’s hurtful shaming and name calling because of

her skin color. P6 expressed that:

Naningkamot ko nga bisan lahi akong pamanit wala kini

naka-apekto sa akong pagtuon.

“Despite of my having a different skin color, I strive

so it won’t affect my studies.”

Truly, when students have a sense of self-worth, they

will be less likely to bully others, and less likely to feel

the effects of bullying behaviors. Students need a school

environment that supports accepting others. As educators, we

can work with students to reflect on their unique strengths

and how they can develop those strengths over time. Thus,

when leaners have clear ideas of their inner strengths, we

are helping them to become well-rounded individuals who

truly accept their uniqueness. They will become someone who

has a personality that bullies will shy away from.

Silence

Takemoto (2002) argued that silence is acceptance. To

her, bullying is a behavior that cannot be ignored. People

who see or experience bullying need to step in and address

this issue. The effects of bullying can lead to serious and

long term consequences including depression, low self-

esteem, shyness, poor academic achievement, isolation,

threatened or attempted suicide, and retaliatory violence.

P8 and P9 revealed that they just ignore because they

felt powerless against these bullies. P8 said that:

Pasagdaan nalang nako ang mga nagdaogdaog nako kay

kung akong pansinon, ako ray masakitan. Maboang ko kung ako

silang tagdon. Gibaliwala nako ang ilahang mga tsismis

bahin sa akoa. Mura kog artista tungod sa ilahang

gipangtabi nga bisag asa lang maabot.

“I pay no attention to those who bully me because if I

do, I would be the one to feel pain. I might become crazy if

I confront them. I disregard everything they’ve badmouthed

me with. I feel like a celebrated person because of the

things they say.”

Moreover, P9 indicated that:

Ako lang baliwalaon kay wala raman pud koy mahimo.

“I just ignore them because I can do nothing about it.”

According to Murphy (n.d.) as quoted by Takemoto

(2002), in the long run, we can’t afford not to confront

bullying behavior. The futures for both bullies and victims

may depend on what we do (or don’t do) today. Hence,

everyone needs to become proactive in dealing early signs of

bullying behaviors.
Challenge

Bullying among children is a global challenge, with

numerous detrimental side effects that have broader societal

implications. Both victims and perpetrators of bullying

suffer across various dimensions, including personal social

development, education, and health, with negative effects

persisting into adulthood. Moreover, due to its damaging

effects on learning and behavior, bullying in schools could

reduce the effectiveness of public investment in children’s

education and may incur costs through riskier behavior in

the future.

Overcoming bullying can be one of the hardest things to

do. We often speak to adults who bear the scars of bullying

and it has affected their adulthood in one way or another.

They may have trust issues, low self-esteem and self-worth.

We have seen how the effects of bullying can determine

someone’s behavior and actions. For those who have

experienced bullying, it may be difficult to do the everyday

things we take for granted, such as meeting new people,

trying out new challenges and more

(https://www.bullying.co.uk/general-advice/overcoming-

bullying/).

Among the responses revealed by the participants during

the interview, P2, P5 and P7 have indicated that they have

sustained through the all the pains and hurtful things done

by bullies by always keeping a positive outlook and taking

everything as a challenge to overcome. It is apparent that

they consider unpleasant experiences as a way to improve

themselves. To them, bullying will stop as long as

perpetrators will see that they’ve gotten strong as they

have overcome their weaknesses. Their responses were listed,

as follows:

Naundang ang pagdaogdaog sa uban sa akoa kay karun

dili naku magpasaway.

“Other peoples’ harassment toward me ceased because I

decided to not to misbehave.”

Gibantog nako ang mga pagdaogdaog. Naligo na ko kada

adlaw. Nakat-on ko nga manglimpyo sa akong kaugalingon.

“I did combat bullying. I take a bath everyday. I have

also learned to keep my self clean and hygienic.

Naningkamot ko nga makamao mobasa ug dili moabsent

para dili ko daogdaogon.

“I strive to learn how to read and to not to be absent

so I won’t be bullied.”

P5 and P7’s answers explain that getting oneself better

could be a measure to fight against oppressors of bullying.

The study of Chandley (2005) states that bullies can be

found almost anywhere children congregate. Bullies believe

they can overpower the victim before they will act out with

bullying behavior. Children became subject to bullying when

others saw that they were weak in most aspects. P5’s poor

health condition and P7’s difficulty in reading have both

triggered the bullying situation to occur.

Happiness

Many people believe that you’re either born happy or

you’re not. Feeley (2017) contends that happiness is a

choice — that you have the ability to create real and

lasting happiness for yourself.

Your personal happiness has everything to do with the

conscious choices and the sincere amount of work you put

into living a good life; to flourish, thrive and to be

joyful even while you may be living in painful and seemingly

hopeless circumstances. This is why the idea that happiness

is a choice seems to be just that, an idea, and one that

doesn’t apply to you. How can you choose to be happy when

someone has treated you so badly, when circumstances beyond

your control are bombarding you with pain?

Happiness, according to Diener (2000) as cited by

Malmivaara & Lehto (2016), is defined as subjective well-

being consisting of positive and negative affect and life

satisfaction. The said study also confirms that

dissatisfaction with school is associated with various

social problems with parents and peers, as well as

psychological and physical symptoms, such as depression,

headaches, and fatigue as resulted in the study of Natvig,

et al., (2003) and Rask, et al., (2002). Further, it was

found out that bullying strongly correlates with school

dissatisfaction. Rejection and victimization in the most

important peer context, the school, are detrimental to

social self-esteem, school adjustment and a child’s overall

need to belong Malmivaara & Lehto (2016). Thus, it is

compelling to say that helping our learners to learn and

value happiness will enable them to overcome the drawbacks

of bullying.

Resilience and happiness habits are closely related and

have mutual and reciprocal benefits. Maintaining a positive

mindset is the “fuel” for resilience. This positive mindset

forms resilience because it helps one build the skills and

internal resources to bounce back from adversity.

P3 and P10’s revelations have emphasized putting a stop

to their bullying encounters. The following are the

transcript of their answers:

Sa akoa, bisag dili unta nako siya makalimtan pero

akong gipugos tungod kay kon dili magpabilin ang sakit sa

akong kasing kasing. Aron malimtan, ako kining giagi sa

happy2x bahalag sad; pugson jud nako kay aron makalimtan

nako ang sakit nga akong naagian.

“For me, though I cannot easily forget these

experiences but I forced to because if not, the pain and

heartache it caused will still remain. For me to forget it,

I choose to be happy despite being sad; compelling myself to

ignore everything for me to not to recall all pain felt.”

Akong gibantog ang maong pagdaogdaog pinaagi sa

paglingaw-lingaw sa kinabuhi, pagbaliwala sa mga kaagi ug

paghappy-happy kauban sa akong mga classmates ug sa akong

mga amiga.

“I fight all torments and intimidation through spending

leisure time, ignoring all unpleasant experiences,

displaying a positive and happy disposition and doing

blissful moments together with my classmates and friends.”

The answers of these two participants vividly describe

Filipinos’ altruistic and buoyant personality. We are seen

to be one of the most resilient groups of people in the

world. This is exemplified in us being able to put a smile

on our faces and being hopeful despite the dire

circumstances we face with.

The ideas discussed beforehand are sustained by the

U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s World

Happiness Report which was released each year.

 The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the

state of global happiness that ranks 156 countries by how

happy their citizens perceive themselves to be.

This year’s report focused on happiness and the

community: how happiness has evolved over the past dozen

years, with a focus on the technologies, social norms,

conflicts and government policies that have driven those

changes.

This latest report of 156 countries covers the period

from 2016-2018, while the 2018 report covered 2015-2017.

The 2019 report finds that in South-East Asia,

Singapore (34th) ranked 1st, Thailand (52nd) ranked 2nd and

the Philippines (69th) ranked 3rd. This indeed proves

Filipinos as one of the happiest people on earth.

 Forgiveness

Acceptance

Common Themes
 Challenge Silence

Happiness

Figure 2. Thematic Presentation of Common Emergent Themes