The “Anti-Bullying Awareness Campaign Week” ended at BRAC University (BRACU) on 17 May 2018 with a call from Lady Syeda Sarwat Abed, founder and director of the BRAC Institute of Languages (BIL), to do at least one good deed every day to make the world a better place.
Even half of the campaign’s goals have not been achieved as BRACU will have to continue to spread the messages and wait for the final outcome, she told the campaign’s final day which focused on psychological and emotional bullying.
Lady Abed had initiated the campaign, themed “Respecting Each Other for Who We Are”, which started on 13 May 2018 and went on at BRACU’s Mohakhali campus auditorium.
Organised by the BIL, Office of Co-curricular Activities (OCA) and Counseling Unit, the campaign aimed to create awareness and develop strategies to prevent bullying effectively.
Professor Mehtab Khanam, advisor of the Counseling Unit of BRACU, conducted an interactive session with students on the final day. She explained four thoughts on life stances and beliefs.
Addressing a guest speaker, Solaiman Shukhon, head of Strategic Projects at Aamra Networks Limited, said people who bully suffer from serious inferiority complex.
“If you see people bullying someone, please speak up. Humans have the best capacity of doing something better,” he added.
Registrar Lt Col Md Foyzul Islam (Retd) shared his personal experience of being bullied in the military academy at a young age. He expected students to remember and practice the campaign’s lessons.
Students of BRAC University Cultural Club and Drama and Theatre Forum performed songs and staged a drama.
A video was screened at the start of the program including messages of renowned academics and personalities on creating awareness and stopping bullying.
They include Sir Fazle Hasan Abed KCMG, founder and chairperson of BRAC and chairperson of BRACU Board of Trustees (BoT); Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman PhD, a BRACU BoT member, and Rokia Afzal Rahman, a BRAC BoT member.
The program ended with an oath to join hands to stop bullying. OCA Director Dilara Afroz Khan moderated the program.