Miss Ela's Story: Fighting Bullying by Fostering Empathy and Empowering Upstanders

Laelawati, affectionately known as Miss Ela, an English teacher at SMK Pusdikhubad Cimahi, shared her insightful experience participating in the 2025 Technical Guidance for the Violence Prevention and Handling Team (BimTek TPPK) organized by PeaceGeneration Indonesia (PeaceGen) in collaboration with the West Java Education Office (Disdik). Miss Ela was one of 18 school representatives across West Java attending the event. For her, this BimTek was a highly memorable and eye-opening first-time experience regarding addressing violence in schools.

Although the TPPK and its accompanying official decree (SK) from the relevant department or agency have been established at SMK Pusdikhubad, Miss Ela admitted that its implementation was not optimal. 

"This TPPK is still quite new for us," she stated, emphasizing that the team's formation and the SK were recent. 

Her participation in the BimTek TPPK became a crucial step in understanding the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for teachers to effectively prevent and handle violence.

Baca juga: Inspiring Story from Inspiration House Cirebon: Mobilizing Communities with a Touch of Peace

SMK Pusdikhubad, being under a military foundation, faces unique challenges. 

"Perhaps there are some educational approaches that might be different from other schools," Miss Ela revealed.

She recognized that approaches considered normal in a military environment might be perceived as harsh by outsiders. Therefore, the development of SOPs for handling violence cases, both internal and.external (such as bullying or brawls), requires careful planning to ensure that disciplinary actions are educational and not excessive. The PeaceGen training significantly enlightened Miss Ela, especially in handling bullying cases. 

"After attending the training here, I became enlightened," she enthusiastically said.

In this BimTek TPPK, PeaceGen trained a system-thinking mindset with the creative-interactive ARKA approach to understand the correct flow of violence handling, including identifying various actors involved and determining intervention priorities. 

One of the most impactful aspects was the creative-interactive learning method employed by PeaceGen through board games. Miss Ela highlighted the "Semester Baru" board game, a role-playing game featuring school bullying cases. 

Baca juga: Sekolah Cinta Ilmu Baleendah: Creating a Safe, Comfortable, and Joyful School Environment

"Besides the children playing games, ultimately, during the reflection, they gained something," she explained.

Through games that allow players to experience roles as both perpetrators and victims, it is hoped that empathy will grow within students. This empathy becomes the primary tool to be equipped to students to prevent violence in schools. This enjoyable learning approach is believed to be more effective in conveying messages and instilling deep understanding.

Looking ahead, Miss Ela and the SMK Pusdikhubad TPPK team plan to disseminate the material received from PeaceGen to all school elements. Socialization regarding the impact of bullying and the importance of transforming bystanders (people who silently watch bullying) into upstanders (people who dare to act when witnessing injustice) will also be intensified among students.

Miss Ela also experienced a significant shift in her perspective on handling bullying after attending the BimTek TPPK. Before the BimTek, teacher intervention tended to focus on the victim first, then calling and processing the perpetrator's actions. However, the BimTek conducted by PeaceGen opened Miss Ela's and other participating teachers' eyes to the crucial understanding of roles in bullying dynamics (such as the bully, loyal friend, active and passive supporter, bystander, and upstander). 

"It turns out that the first to be intervened (in bullying cases) is the bully's friend, but the passive supporter," she revealed,

Baca juga: Nasyiatul Aisyiyah Lampung: Transformed Through Peace and Diversity Program

realizing that empowering upstanders is key to weakening the main bully's power. With the enlightenment gained after the BimTek, Miss Ela hopes that the implementation of violence handling SOPs at SMK Pusdikhubad can proceed smoothly and be supported by all school elements. Cohesion and mutual understanding in creating unbiased SOPs are key to successfully creating a peaceful school environment. 

"My hope is that what we have gained here can certainly be implemented in school," 

she concluded, with great hope of realizing SMK Pusdikhubad Cimahi as a peaceful school capable of preventing and handling cases of violence among its students.