Street brawls: When to end?<\/p>\n
From Media Indonesia<\/p>\n
I joined a course at Santa Lusia on Jl. Dewi Sartika in East
\nJakarta two weeks ago. When I arrived at Santa Lusia at 6:30 one
\nevening, I saw a group of youngsters wearing junior high school
\nuniforms loitering not far from the Santa Lusia building. Fifteen
\nminutes later, watching safely from the third floor window, I saw
\na number of metromini buses speed past with smashed windows,
\nhotly pursued by the screaming school children. Shortly
\nafterwards, a young classmate of mine arrived. He was fortunate
\nenough to have escaped the teenage street violence by the skin of
\nhis teeth. He told us that he saw a woman bleeding, injured by
\nstones pelted at the metrominis by the youngsters. The violence
\nwas the fifth such outbreak I have witnessed in the two weeks I
\nhave been studying at Santa Lusia. Many other similar incidents
\nmust surely be happening all across the capital.<\/p>\n
I understand that our society's decadence during the 32 years
\nof Soeharto's rule is responsible for these youngsters' unruly
\nbehavior. I always ask myself what I can do to stop street
\nviolence, which I believe is a pathetic social phenomenon.
\nHowever, it is as good as useless to contact the police and ask
\nthem to stop violence breaking out when you see a likely mob of
\nyoungsters hanging about. It is also completely useless to call
\nthe police once violence has actually broken out. Traffic
\ncongestion is always such that virtually no vehicles, including
\nthose belonging to the security forces, can get near to the
\nscene.<\/p>\n
These youngsters need to be given useful activities to occupy
\ntheir minds, but rampant corruption has left the government
\nwithout the means to provide the necessary facilities. Firm legal
\naction is also difficult to take against these brutal youngsters
\nbecause usually there is the inconceivable factor as a
\nconstraint. Providing these youngsters with a legal, religious
\nand moral education would be quite absurd because all around us,
\npractices abound that go against morality, the law and religious
\nteachings.<\/p>\n
What will this country end up like if it is allowed to wallow
\nin this sort of decadence for too long a period of time? When
\nwill there be an end to all these street brawls, especially now
\nthat such brawls also involve more senior members of the
\ncommunity in certain neighborhoods? It is time, really, that we
\nreflected seriously upon this phenomenon in the hope that we may
\nfind ways to maintain security and peace in our community life.<\/p>\n
LISA A.P.<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/street-brawls-when-to-end-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }