ITB Must Be Free from Bullying!

Bullying is aggressive treatment from someone, or usually a group, that hurts the other who has less power. It can be physical hurt (hitting, shoving, kicking) or psychological hurt (verbal bullying). It different from conflict, rather than fight or disagreement between two people, it involves an imbalance of power or strength. Hence, it is hard for someone who is bullied to defend himself or herself. It is also clear unfair. I believe that bullying is dangerous behavior that must be stopped in everywhere, include at ITB.

Bullying can be extremely serious. Mental health professional studies shows that it can affect the academic work, mental well being, and physical health of people who are targeted. Moreover it has bad impact to the victims of bullying to have lower self-esteem, higher rates of depression, loneliness, anxiety, and suicidal thought. They are also more likely to experience headaches, sleeping problems, and stomach ailment.

Bullying at ITB is usually happen from the seniors ( higher grade students) to the juniors ( lower grade or new students). At ITB, there is tradition called “Kaderisasi” which must be followed by new students who want to get involved in “Himpunan” (an Indonesian term for federation which gathers the students who study the same course at ITB). “Kaderisasi” at ITB is notorious by its bullying treatment. Therefore, the rector of ITB has decided to make a decision that “Kaderisasi” is not allowed.

Yet some seniors still believe that “Kaderisasi” (by its bullying) is a good way to teach about leadership to the new students. They assume that the rector is not wise with his decision. They think that they are true and the rector is wrong. They think that they are smarter than the rector, even they know clearly that they are still student whereas the rector is a professor and post doctoral graduate. They are foolish people who persistently still defend the tradition of bullying in “Kaderisasi” program. They just really do not know about what they do and its effect. They just do what they want to do.

Evidences show from year to year in second semester, the academic ability of the first year students who get involved in “Kaderisasi” program is always dropped. The professors and lecturers ,who know about it, are disappointed. They prohibit the seniors to make that program again. But in fact, some seniors do not care about it. They still make the program again in this second semester.

To conclude, the rector and the professor should not just prohibit the “Kaderisasi” program. They must investigate it directly to make sure that there is no bullying practice from the seniors to the juniors at ITB. “Kaderisasi”, by its bullying treatment, is a bad program. It is not the way to teach about how to lead people, it is the way to teach about how to dominate people. It must be stopped now!