AWARENESS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ANTI-BULLYING LAW AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NORTHEASTERN CAGAYAN

Bullying in schools is a worldwide problem that can have negative consequences for the general school climate and for the rights of students to learn in a safe environment without fear. This study was conducted to determine the level of awareness and level of implementation on the Anti-Bullying Law and determine whether there is a significant difference on the awareness and implementation level as perceived by the respondents to provide recommendations to effectively deal with bullying incidence. The study uses a descriptive and correlation research design. There were 408 respondents of the study composed of teachers and students from secondary schools in Northeastern Cagayan.The findings indicates that the respondents are very much aware on the different forms of bullying like physical, written and cyber forms of bullying including the legal implications, prohibited acts and the prevention and intervention measures on bullying as well as the duties and responsibilities of the stakeholders in the implementation of the law except for the verbal form of bullying.The respondents perceived that physical and cyber form of bullying together with the prohibited acts, prevention and intervention programs and the duties and responsibilities of the stakeholders of the law are very much implemented while verbal, written form and the legal implications is perceived to be much implemented.Finally, the finding indicates that there is no significant difference on the level of awareness but there is a significant difference between respondents assessments on the implementation of the law.Based from the findings, it is recommended that there shall be a continuous education drive to students about the Anti-Bullying Law with emphasis on the verbal and written form of bullying including its legal implications and school principal and teacher should intensify the implementation of the Anti-Bullying Law particularly on the verbal and written forms of bullying.