Expert: Students learn violence from state leaders

Expert: Students learn violence from state leaders

JAKARTA (JP): An educator and a psychologist warned on
Wednesday that violence has penetrated into the hearts of the
people, including students, who prefer violence to dialog in
settling conflicts.

"We have become accustomed to settling our problems by forcing
our will (upon others) and neglecting dialog as a means for the
management of conflict," educational expert Arif Rahman told The
Jakarta Post.

Arif, a lecturer at the former Jakarta Teachers Training
Institute (IKIP Jakarta), said the predilection toward violence
is now being taken up by youths, students and children to force
their individual or group's interest upon others.

Similarly, psychologist Saparinah Sadli said the youths and
students are following the example of the state's violent
approach to settling its problems.

"Students learn about life from their state leaders. They
inherently follow the leaders' patterns in solving problems," she
told the Post on the sidelines of a Workshop on Violence Against
Women and Its Alternative Solutions at Hotel Kemang in South
Jakarta on Wednesday.

Saparinah said the death of University of Indonesia student
Yap Yun Hap was an example of how the state used violence to
pursue it interests. Yun Hap was shot on Friday, the second of
two days of rallies, protesting the newly approved state security
bill.

Arif said parents and lecturers should educate their children
and students about God and encourage them to be dedicated to Him.

"Lecturers should not only teach science and knowledge, but
also humanitarian values to their students," he said.

He also suggested that lecturers should introduce a "sense of
shame" to students to prevent them from taking part in any
violent measures as a way of settling conflicts.

"All students, not only Trisakti University students, should
adopt an intellectual approach to managing conflicts among
themselves," he said, while commenting on the brawl sparked
between two rival schools of the Trisakti University in West
Jakarta on Tuesday.

The brawl claimed a mechanical engineering student's life.
Muhammad Taufik Lubis was butchered to death although he was not
a member of rival school gangs. Two students of the oil
department at the university's mineral engineering school, Salman
Arfaiziar and Yudo Arsito, suffered serious wounds during the
incident.

Meanwhile, Saparinah called for firm implementation of the law
against any violent action between the state and the students.

"All people, especially state leaders, should uphold the law
in all of their actions," Saparinah, a lecturer at the University
of Indonesia's School of Psychology, said. (asa)