Enriching the Treasured Smiles of Indonesian Children

This chapter aims to determine the rates of bullying as well as peers aggression, among school-aged children in Indonesia. It investigates the bullying phenomenon, as well as peer aggression more broadly, in order to shed light on the nature of Indonesian school students’ peer interactions. The chapter deals with an introduction describing the Indonesian educational system, followed by details of school violence and Indonesian policies towards violence in schools, including the views of Indonesian communities on school violence. Indonesia is one of the most rapidly developing countries in South East Asia. Bullying is a significant problem for students attending Indonesian schools. Bullying is accepted behaviour among Indonesian society, where older and stronger youth or seniors at school, bully juniors in an act of superiority. The occurrence of peer aggression and bullying in Indonesia clashes with the fundamental values and beliefs that underlie the Indonesian culture.