Coping with student brawls not easy: Police<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Police and teachers are still struggling to
\nunderstand and curb student brawls in the capital.<\/p>\n
Operations launched by police against students and the
\nconfiscation of their weapons have done little to stop the
\naggression.<\/p>\n
\"At least seven high school students have been killed in
\nbrawls this year,\" City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Dibyo Widodo said
\nat a meeting with teachers and students yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"This is a serious problem but we still don't know how to deal
\nwith it,\" said Dibyo, looking for ideas and suggestion from the
\npublic.<\/p>\n
\"We, the police, only disperse those involved in brawls and,
\nwhen necessary, make arrests,\" he said. \"We work like a fire
\nbrigade.\"<\/p>\n
City police recorded a total of 160 brawls involving junior
\nand senior high schools students last year, when 10 students
\ndied, 22 were seriously wounded and 57 injured slightly.<\/p>\n
The 1994 data revealed that 917 students were caught, of whom
\n795 were arrested.<\/p>\n
The schools with the most trouble makers are located in South
\nand Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Data shows that most student brawls in the city take place on
\nSaturdays.<\/p>\n
\"It's a gruesome condition and I can imagine the feelings of
\nthe parents whose kids were killed in these foolish brawls,\" said
\nDibyo, a father of two senior high school students.<\/p>\n
\"Every time I wake up in the morning, I keep on thinking and
\nthinking how to reduce the number of brawls,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Apart from searching students, police also stop busloads of
\nstudents to prevent them from meeting students from other
\nschools, which normally turns into a fight.<\/p>\n
The South Jakarta police, with the support of local military
\npersonnel, have also set up special posts in trouble spots.<\/p>\n
But few police efforts have been fruitful, said Dibyo.<\/p>\n
Teachers<\/p>\n
The teachers shared Dibyo's opinion, saying that it is not
\neasy for them to stop juvenile delinquency.<\/p>\n
Knowing that the police will search them at any time,
\nstudents generally keep their weapons at nearby food stalls, said
\nM.B. Samosir, deputy to the headmaster of SMA 4 PSKD in South
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
In some cases the students even use their belts as weapons.<\/p>\n
Samosir told The Jakarta Post that their habit of watching
\nbrutal movies on TV has played a role in the students' behavior.<\/p>\n
\"Today's youths have a lot of energy but no place to release
\nit,\" he said. \"They therefore turn to fighting and chasing after
\neach other with stones and whatever else.\"<\/p>\n
Samosir also cited parental supervision and poor teacher
\nwelfare as likely causes.<\/p>\n
\"Some of the students go back to school in the evening to chat
\nwith friends because no one is at home,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The meeting yesterday was organized by the City Traffic Police
\nDirectorate. It was attended by the city's senior police officers
\nand dozens of high school teachers and students. (bsr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/coping-with-student-brawls-not-easy-police-1447893297",
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