Bullying in Pakistani schools is not only about punches or online posts. Teachers most often notice something quieter: words and social exclusion—and what they see changes with students’ age and where the school is located.

Bullying and cyberbullying in schools have been recognized as a serious public health problem, and they affect primary and secondary schools as well as higher educational institutions in Pakistan. But policies and interventions to control the consequences of bullying are rare in the Pakistani context.

This study therefore explores teachers’ perspectives and experiences in different school contexts. The issue has gained prominence worldwide, but bullying and cyberbullying in Pakistan’s educational institutions have yet to be studied in depth.

Much earlier research relied on students describing their own experiences, which can be affected by what people wish to say or by what they remember. This study includes teachers’ experiences instead. The study used a survey to determine how common different forms of bullying are in Pakistan’s educational institutions.

That choice gives the study a broad view of the different forms teachers encounter across educational institutions. The questionnaire was conducted online, and educators from different parts of Pakistan responded between November twenty twenty-one and January twenty twenty-two.

Teachers were told the study’s purpose, that participation was voluntary, and that they could withdraw. The survey asked how many teachers had witnessed bullying incidents among students and shared those experiences. The first important pattern is that teachers witnessed more social and verbal bullying than physical and cyberbullying.

Physical bullying decreased as the teaching level increased, indicating that physical bullying was more prevalent in primary schools than in higher educational institutions. Cyberbullying was linked with traditional forms of bullying, suggesting that institutions with more cyberbullying also experienced more physical, verbal, and social bullying.

The study serves as the basis for an anti-bullying intervention developed for a teacher training course. Unlike most previous studies in Pakistan, it does not rely on student self-reports alone; it includes teachers’ perceptions and experiences. Educational institution staff could provide better insight into these issues, and translated versions of the survey are recommended, especially for teachers in rural areas where English is not commonly used.

The study’s design does not accurately capture changes over time, so similar studies are suggested across more institutions and regions of Pakistan. The central lesson is that teachers are essential witnesses to bullying, and prevention must fit the forms of harm they actually see in each setting.

That can make help more timely and more relevant for students.