School Bullying Laws in UAE

Bullying is a global concern in schools these days. Children face challenges with their mental health, academic performance, and emotional well-being. Bullying among young children can happen in different ways, including cyberbullying and physical bullying. The UAE government is working proactively to reduce bullying in schools. Schools have implemented several laws and mandates to protect every child. These laws hold not just children, but also parents and school administrators, accountable. Let’s discuss more about this.

Bullying is counted as misbehaviour of the child. This act induces aggression in children. It shall not be encouraged in the first place. The schools must monitor harmful behaviour by ensuring rules are followed. Other than classrooms, children are bullied in school buses, playgrounds and social media platforms.

Physical bullying could be an incident in the playground where a child hits another. Hitting can take different forms, such as kicking or pushing the child. Schools must protect students from bullying, as not every child can manage bullying on their own. Verbal bullying is when the child uses offensive language that is directed at the other child. For example, threats, name-calling and insulting others are forms of verbal bullying.

Cyberbullying happens online. Young children often use social media platforms. They play games with children from other countries. Parents should monitor these online connections. This ensures the child is not manipulated or embarrassed by others.

The UAE child protection laws were introduced under Federal Law No. 3 of 2016 – also known as Wadeema’s Law. It was introduced when an eight-year-old girl died as a victim of abuse in the UAE. The law is a reminder for the UAE government to implement child reforms in the region. Besides physical and verbal harassment, the law also guarantees the right to education, the right to play and the right to live for every child. Moreover, the Wadeema Law does not hold discrimination for any child, whether a Muslim or a non-Muslim and protects without any discrimination. Article 2 of the UAE’s Wadeema Law (Federal Law No. 3 of 2016 Concerning Child Rights) guarantees every child’s fundamental right to life, survival, and development.

It obligates families and school administrators to ensure discipline and a safe environment for every child. It guarantees the child’s right to life, survival, and development. It’s about the state’s duty to provide services for the child’s development. Article 42 also says that the individual must report child abuse, physical, emotional, psychological or verbal, on an immediate basis.

Anyone may report a threat to a child’s safety or physical, psychological, ethical or mental health. Reporting is mandatory for custodians, physicians, social workers and people entrusted with the child’s protection, care or education.

Under the Wadeema’s Law, the UAE government has also decided penalties against bullying in the UAE schools. The financial penalties start from AED 10,000. Other than fines, the culprit can also be imprisoned if found guilty. However, corporal punishment and deprivation from food or any basic facilities denied to the child is also considered bullying in the UAE. In short, any kind of violence against kids is a harmful treatment. Schools must implement anti-bullying measures at the earliest. For an understanding, we would like to tell that;

• Under civil law, parents are held legally and financially responsible for the actions of their minor children. Civil courts have mandated parents to pay varying compensation amounts (e.g., between AED 30,000 to AED 65,000) for bullying that resulted in physical or emotional trauma to peers. Additionally, under the UAE Cybercrime Law, online defamation, threats, and non-consensual filming are punishable by fines of up to AED 500,000.
• Source: https://gulfnews.com/uae/education/uae-schools-launch-campaigns-to-combat-bullying-1.500321914

• Federal Decree-Law No. 18 of 2020 on Private Education:

The global principle about child protection is to prioritise the best interests of the child. This means that if bullying has ever happened to the child, the authorities must focus on protecting the child’s emotional well-being and personal development. It can be done if the child gets psychological help to get out of the trauma. Therefore, always investigate the case carefully, especially when you see a child is being bullied by someone else. A safe environment is the right of every child.

• Accountability of School Administrators

Schools should take the responsibility to reduce bullying in the UAE. It is because bullying usually happens in young children in a school environment. Children think that the school environment is one place where their parents cannot see them. Therefore, they make comments or physically abuse other children in classroom environments. Older children would bully others in a public place, such as playgrounds or malls. Several ways can be adopted to avoid bullying in the UAE schools.

It is important that teachers and school administrators should attend training against bullying. They will get help from these sessions to stop bullying at school in their presence. Their intervention with stopping bullying schools can make a huge impact on the UAE educational institutions.

A proper complaint mechanism shall be made in schools. This means if a child wants to complain, they must know how to file the complaint in school, who to visit and ensured that their name will not appear during the case of bullying. Usually, students do not report bullying in schools because they are afraid that their name is associated with the complaint.

Bullying can be reported by parents or the child in the. Child is scared and may want the parent to report the incident. Sometimes, the parents are clueless about the complaint mechanism. Here is a practical way to report bullying in the UAE school:

As soon as the event has happened, it should be reported to the school authorities. Evidence shall be collected. For example, if the child is hurt, they can show the physical marks on their body or ask for witness statements. It would help in the investigation.

After evaluating the report, the school administrator must closely investigate the case. They should understand that a child may not lie about bullying and should ask questions to the victim in a concerned tone. It would develop trust in the child that they are heard, whereas the authorities may get more evidence against the case.

Sometimes, the bullying cases need legal attention, even if it happened in a school. The authorities may advise parents to seek legal advice rather than taking the matter in their own hands. The act of bullying should be reported in all situations.

In the UAE schools, bullying exists. However, a child shall be protected from all types of harassment. The school authorities are advised to implement strict policies against bullying. In case of any mistreatment to the child in a school that goes unnoticed by the school authorities, they have to face financial penalties. Wadeema’s law protects child rights in the UAE. Therefore, cases of bullying are usually resolved under this law.