Yu, X;
Reiss, MJ;
(2025)
Why do victims remain silent? An ethical reflection on the phenomenon of school bullying in China.
Ethics and Education
10.1080/17449642.2025.2503641.
(In press).
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Abstract
School bullying is widespread, and a common phenomenon is that those who are bullied remain silent, rather than talking about their experiences. This paper explores a case of victim silence through the recollections of a woman who was bullied at school. Drawing on Levinas’ concept of the ‘Other’ and the notion of the ‘underworld’, we analyse why victims remain silent and the educational issues underpinning their silence. The study shows that children create their own world, with unique social rules and secrecy norms that exclude adults. Educators often ignore this hidden world, choosing control over listening. This paper argues for a shift from a logic of control to a logic of listening in education, where teachers welcome and respond to students as Others. In doing so, schools can foster an ethical relationship that affirms dignity and rejects bullying.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Why do victims remain silent? An ethical reflection on the phenomenon of school bullying in China |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1080/17449642.2025.2503641 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/17449642.2025.2503641 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
| Keywords: | School bullying; Levinas; silence; otherness; ethical relationships |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10208955 |
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