Social problems or social ills include negative

attitudes and behaviours displayed by

members of a society that do not benefit the
society in particular and the nation in general.
Analyse two major current social problems
among Malaysian primary school students and
discuss the extent to which teachers could help
to prevent these social problems from
happening.

 To what extent the teachers could

help to prevent these social problems
from happening?

Bully
Steps
- Implementing and holding anti-bullying programs, campaigns in school
Educate students, parents and staff about taking bullying seriously and how to recognize it
(Cohn-Vargas, 2015).
- Identification of problem - Find out the causes behind bullying behaviour, then follow up
with individualized positive behaviour support plan
- Teachers attitude and concern - Timely and effective interventions in bully cases (Bullying
in Malaysia, 2015).
- Monitor hot spots where bully cases are likely to occur
According to Mahoney (2012) as cited in Hellwig (2011), statistics show that 47.2% of
bullying occurs in a hallway or stairwell and 33.6% of bullying happens in the classroom.
20% of bullying cases occur on school grounds, on playgrounds, on school busses, when
the kids are walking to and from school, in lunchrooms, gyms and cyberspace.
- Educate community about bully (community involvement) to reject and not encourage
bully for entertainment

 Limitations of teachers efforts

- Unable to monitor hot spots and pupils behaviours all the time
- Lack of knowledge and skills to intervene in bully incidents
- Teachers negligence and cover up cases - school image
(Ramasamy, 2016)
- Teachers perception see bully as kids will be kids and
underestimate the negative implications on the victims
- Sign of bullying may be difficult to be detected (especially
verbal abuse and electronic media). Denial by victim as well.

Smoking
Steps
- Awareness program in school (eg. collaboration with Ministry of Health, Tak Nak
smoking campaign).
- Integration of moral value and awareness during lessons (through interactive activities.
Office of Justice Programs (2000) suggested the use of role play, discussions,
brainstorming and cooperative learning)
- Educate pupils about decision making, conflict resolution, stress management and
communication. (Early detection)
- Collaboration with parents and community
Brounstein, Janine and Zweig (1999) suggested a strong relationship with a parent or
caring adult who provides a consistent nurturing environment.
- Teachers as mentors and listeners
Mentoring is an increasingly popular prevention / intervention approach that helps youths
deal with the risks they face in their daily lives (Office of Justice Programs, 2000).

 Limitations of teachers efforts

- Absentees and expelled students do not get involved in the programs and
campaigns organized by teachers
Tak Nak campaign was designed to encourage people to quit smoking and also
realize the harmful implications of smoking but the results were not encouraging
(Hong et al., 2013).
- Poor execution of programs (message content, delivery approach)
Sample responses from participants of an anti-smoking campaign (Tohid et al.,
2012).
Once, I actually stopped smoking for almost a week. But, when I saw an anti-smoking
advertisement (with an image of cigarette), I felt the urge to start smoking again.
I felt sleepy when they were talking.

- Limited range of monitoring (only in school). What about negligent parents who
are smokers at home?
Students with smoking family members have a higher probability of smoking
compared to other students (Ceylan, Yanik and Gencer, 2005)

Conclusion
To a certain extent
Teachers play vital roles in preventing these
social problems from happening
Make school a better place for the kids and
create a community free from social problems.
Teachers are agents of socialisation and
change.

References
Brounstein, P. J., Janine, M. & Zweig (1999). Understanding substance abuse prevention: toward the 21 st century: a primer on
effective programs. Darby, PA: Diane Pub Co.
Bullying in Malaysia (2015). Retrieved August 13, 2016 from https://nobullying.com/bullying-in-malaysia/
Ceylan, E., Yanik, M., & Gencer, M. (2005). Factors that affect smoking attitudes of students enrolled in harran university. Toraks
Journal, 6(2), 144-150.
Cohn-Vargas, B. (2015). 5 ways to stop bullying and move into action. Retrieved August 13, 2016 from
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/stop-bullying-create-upstanders-becki-cohn-vargas
Hellwig, E. (2011). 10 ways to help reduce bullying in schools. Retrieved August 13, 2016 from
http://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/November-2011/10-Ways-to-Help-Reduce-Bullying-in-Schools
Hong, Y., Soh, C., Khan, N., Abdullah, M. & Teh, B. (2013). Effectiveness of anti-smoking advertising: the roles of message and
media. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(19), 55-62.
Office of Justice Programs (2000). Promising strategies to reduce substance abuse. Washington: U.S. Department of Justice.
Ramasamy, P. (2016). Cover-ups and compromises wont solve racism, bullying. Retrieved August 13, 2016 from
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2016/04/19/cover-ups-and-compromises-wont-solve-racism-bullying/
Tohid Hizlinda, Mohd Ishak Noriah, Muhammad Noor Azimah, Momtaz Ahmad Farah Naaz, Abdul Aziz Anis Ezdiana & Omar Khairani
(2012). Perceived effects of the malaysian national tobacco control programme on adoslescent smoking cessation. Malays J. Med.
Sci., 19(2), 35-47.