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       LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday sought a report from the Punjab School Education Department about steps taken against physical bullying, cyberbullying and harassment of students in the educational institutes in the province.

       Justice Jawad Hassan passed the order hearing a public interest petition filed by a female lawyer, Sibah Farooq, seeking direction to the government authorities to take steps to ensure a safe educational environment in the schools across the province.

       Barrister Ahmad Pansota, arguing on behalf of the petitioner, said his client being a practicing lawyer and a mother sought indulgence of the court on the issue as per the provisions of the Constitution.

       He said the school going daughter of the petitioner also joined the petition, expressing concerns about lack of legislation on the important subject of physical bullying, cyberbullying and harassment that children are subjected to within the educational institutes and through online forums.

       Woman lawyer files plea against cyberbullying, harassment of schoolchildren

       To establish her locus standi in the matter, Advocate Sibah told the court that the purpose of filing the petition was to highlight the aspect that the mode of formal education had changed after Covid.

       She said that since the pandemic several educational institutes, from time to time, use online schooling options through various social media platforms to interact with teachers and students for homework and learning purposes.

       She said WhatsApp and social media have taken the place of playground, where children now interact with each other.

       She said use of social media forums also led to an increase in cyberbullying of school children, placing responsibility on the authorities concerned to ensure safety of the students in both physical and online school-related interactions.

       Justice Hassan issued notices to all the respondents with a direction to a provincial law officer to submit instructions from the relevant quarters by the next hearing on Nov 4.

       The judge also ordered the school education department secretary to ensure presence of a senior officer from his office at the next hearing to explain what steps have been taken by the government for control of physical bullying, cyberbullying and harassment of children in educational institutes thus far.

       Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2024