Principals 'responsible' for student brawls<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A city councilor has underlined the importance
\nof sacking a school principal if any student of the school he
\nsupervises dies in a street brawl. This is in a bid to reduce the
\nnumber of such fatalities.<\/p>\n
\"The school principal is the one entrusted by the community
\nwith their children's safety. If he or she is unable to ensure
\nthat safety, what's the use of that principal then?\" Nitra
\nArsyad, a member of Commission E for social affairs, said on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
Nitra told The Jakarta Post that a principal was in charge of
\nstudent security for up to a one-kilometer radius from the school
\ncomplex.<\/p>\n
\"If a particular number of students dies in brawls occurring
\nin that area in a given time, then he should be removed.\"<\/p>\n
\"There should be no exceptions. It's better to see children's
\nfaces in the police stations than in the morgues.\"<\/p>\n
Nitra made the remarks in response to the fact that at least
\nfive students have been killed and 30 others have suffered
\ninjuries in 25 student brawls recorded in this year's first two
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
According to Raya Siahaan of the city's Social Disturbance
\nControl Center, this was an alarming figure considering that only
\n14 were killed in the whole of last year.<\/p>\n
\"Five killed in two months is just too much. Stern measures
\nmust be taken and fast to prevent such deaths,\" Raya said.<\/p>\n
Bahar Laut, head of the public order subdivision of the city's
\nsocial and political affairs directorate, said on Wednesday that
\nNitra's idea was good, but it would be too complex to implement.<\/p>\n
\"Sacking a school principal is not only humiliating, but also
\ntakes away the one thing the principal is considered good at
\n... caring for the school,\" Bahar said.<\/p>\n
Bahar said that a better proposal would be to expel a student
\nfound provoking his or her colleagues to fight on the streets or
\non buses.<\/p>\n
\"If a student is caught three times initiating brawls, expel
\nhim or her, even if the student has a brilliant academic record.
\nBut the principal should also get a strict reprimand from the
\nschool's board members,\" Bahar said.<\/p>\n
Bahar explained that once a principal received a reprimand, he
\nor she would be on their guard.<\/p>\n
\"After the third reprimand, the principal should be demoted
\nto, for instance, the level of a teacher or a teacher's
\nassistant, depending on the seriousness of the last brawl that
\noccurred.\"<\/p>\n
Bahar added that every principal of a private or state-run
\nschool should order their teachers to make monthly \"behavioral
\nreport cards,\" recording, among other things, recalcitrant
\nstudents, their behavior and the way teachers are handling them.<\/p>\n
\"This system should apply from elementary school to university
\nlevel,\" said Bahar, head of a communication forum for Jakarta
\nstudents under the umbrella of the directorate.<\/p>\n
\"Each student should have a report card from the school about
\nhis or her attitudes towards studying, friends, cutting class and
\nother matters,\" Bahar said.<\/p>\n
Bahar said that with this system, a junior high school, for
\ninstance, would have a clear idea of the kind of student they
\nwould be taking in and how to deal with them.<\/p>\n
\"A student could be naughty but highly intelligent. Those
\nbehavioral report cards would serve as guide-books for teachers
\nhandling students,\" he said.<\/p>\n
When asked about the participation of parents' in controlling
\ntheir children's behavior, Bahar said that it was the job of
\nteachers to make parents aware that if they were unable to
\ncontrol their children, then the latter would face expulsion.<\/p>\n
\"That will keep parents on their toes. They know that they pay
\nbig money to get their children schooled... parents will
\nthemselves take some assertive action,\" Bahar said. (ylt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/principals-responsible-for-student-brawls-1447893297",
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