Coordination sought to end school brawls
JAKARTA (JP): Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman yesterday convened a special meeting to discuss ways to end brawling at schools, which has become a major headache for City administrators.
"This has become a complex problem that requires everybody's involvement to solve," Soesilo told reporters after the meeting at his office, Antara said.
Describing the students as the "generation of the nation's next leaders", Soesilo said "We should not let them become destructive. That kind of attitude is not good in students."
Dealing with the problem must also involve the public, particularly parents and the students themselves, he added.
The meeting only discussed the brawls in Jakarta because this is where fighting is most frequent, he said.
One city official said school brawls occur every other day in Jakarta.
Many brawls end in death. The Jakarta Police counted 13 deaths in 1995 and 10 in 1994.
Attending the meeting yesterday were Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro, Minister of Information Harmoko, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman, Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher, the chief of the State Intelligence Agency Lt. Gen. Moetojib, Jakarta Governor Surjadi Soedirdja, chief of the Jakarta Military Command Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso, and Deputy for Operation of the National Police Maj. Gen. H.B. Hutagalung.
Soesilo said various factors account for the increasing frequency of school brawls, from rapid urbanization and the various social problems it has created, to security and environmental problems.
"This is what makes the problem of brawling so complex," he said. "Violence in films, and the increasing use of banned drugs also have a strong effect on the students," he opined.
Police statistics show that the problem gets worse every year. In 1995 there were 149 cases of student delinquency, including mostly brawls, up from 121 three year earlier.
The number of students involved rose from 987 to 1,245 in the same period. Police have been kept busy, arresting 1,261 students in 1994, and 1,263 in 1995.
Besides causing deaths and injuries, the brawls destroy a lot of property. City buses are favorite targets, with students often attacking other students on board buses. In 1995, 862 buses were damaged while the previous year the number was 1,158.
Yet Soesilo warned against generalizing, and said that not all schools are dangerous. Brawls have occurred at only four percent of the city's 3,178 junior and senior high schools, he explained.
The Jakarta Police has repeatedly launched operations against suspicious-looking students in the streets and at bus terminals. Last month, in one operation, they apprehended 121 high school students in Central Jakarta and seized knives, swords and other metal objects used in brawls. (emb)