EDITORIAL: Changing Face

THE decline in physical bullying among Filipino learners is certainly a welcome news. Fewer students are being hit, pushed, threatened, mocked or subjected to nasty rumors than seven years ago.

But the figures should not give schools, parents and policymakers a reason to relax and celebrate.

If anything, the latest findings from the 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) suggest that bullying has not disappeared—it has changed form.

The schoolyard bully may no longer be the only threat. The smartphone has become another arena where humiliation, intimidation and reputational damage can take place, often beyond the sight of teachers and parents.

But the changing face of bullying may actually make the problem more difficult for authorities to address. Physical bullying usually happens where teachers, school personnel or other students can see it.

Cyberbullying, on the other hand, can happen behind a screen, outside school premises and even at home. A single malicious post, message, photo or false report can reach hundreds or thousands of people in minutes, making the damage much harder to contain.

This is the dilemma authorities now face: the decline in traditional bullying should not be mistaken for a decline in the seriousness of the problem. The use of gadgets has created a new space for bullying—one that is harder to monitor and where perpetrators can operate beyond the immediate reach of school authorities.

It requires not only stricter and clearer school policies, but also closer cooperation among schools, parents and learners to ensure that technology does not become a tool for harming others.

Fourteen percent of Filipino learners reported seeing false online reports about themselves that could harm their reputation. That is not a minor concern. A nasty remark whispered in a classroom may hurt for a day; a malicious post can be copied, shared and preserved indefinitely.

This makes cyberbullying particularly difficult to address. The victim may leave school at the end of the day, but there is no similar escape from an online attack. Social media can follow a child into the home, the bedroom and even into the supposed safety of family time.

Schools therefore need to treat digital safety as seriously as physical safety.

At the same time, the PISA findings point to another problem: technology intended to help students learn can also become a source of distraction. About three out of four Filipino learners said their peers are often distracted by digital devices during at least some Science classes.

The answer, however, is not to demonize technology or simply ban smartphones and other devices.

Technology is now an unavoidable part of education and everyday life. The more important question is whether learners are being taught to use it responsibly and purposefully.

School policies on digital-device use are already widespread, with more than 80 percent of Filipino learners attending schools with such policies. The bigger challenge is enforcement and consistency. A policy that exists on paper but is ignored inside the classroom accomplishes little.

Teachers need clear rules and support in implementing them. Parents also have a role in teaching children that digital behavior carries real-world consequences. And learners themselves must understand that posting, forwarding or sharing harmful content is not harmless simply because it happens behind a screen.

Most importantly, schools must strengthen mechanisms that allow victims of bullying—whether physical or digital—to report incidents safely and receive appropriate support.

The encouraging decline in traditional bullying shows that interventions can work. It should give us confidence, not complacency.

The goal should not merely be to make schools free from fistfights, insults and threats. It should be to create learning environments where children feel safe wherever learning and social interaction take place—inside the classroom, on the school grounds and online.

Bullying has not disappeared. It has evolved.

Our response must evolve with it.