It starts, as these things often do, with a clip on your feed. A shaky phone camera in a school hallway. A shove, a shout, a face turning away from the lens. You scroll past it, maybe you tell yourself it is an isolated case, kids being kids. But the numbers say otherwise. In Malaysia, bullying is not just happening more often, it is becoming part of the background noise of childhood.

There is a silence in modern classrooms not the quiet of focused minds, but the stillness of something missing. A kind of spiritual absence. A hollowness that hums beneath the structure of schedules, gradebooks, and assessments.

There’s a hidden line in every classroom one most students never quite see, and many teachers don’t realize they’re constantly balancing on. It’s the fine line between being a friend and being an authority. Should teachers be warm and approachable, like a big sibling or trusted mentor? Or should they draw clear boundaries and command respect, like a coach or commanding officer?