Frightful school days

Going back to school after a long break is something most students would normally look forward to, if not for the classes, at least for the reunion with friends. This is probably not the case for many students at junior and senior high schools in Jakarta nowadays. For them, going back to school means a return to fear and terror. For many parents, sending children back to schools causes anxiety. This is because student brawls, particularly between neighboring schools, appear to still be in vogue. And some of them have ended in fatalities.

Barely three weeks into the start of the new school year, interschool brawls have already claimed the lives of three senior high school students -- that makes it one death a week -- and inflicted injury on dozens of others. This brings the death toll for student brawls, since January, to seven.

The problem is not waning and authorities seem helpless to stop, let alone prevent, brawls. At the current rate, this year's death toll could surpass the 19 students killed in brawls in 1996.

In many of the fatal attacks, the victims were not necessarily active players in the brawls. They were innocent passersby who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is why reports of student brawls are creating anxiety for all parents, not just the parents of the brawlers. Nobody is safe anymore.

The latest victim was 18-year-old Madinah, a student at the private Panti Karya technical high school in Depok. He was fatally stabbed in the back and thigh by a group of students from another school on Monday. Madinah and a school friend were on their way home in a minibus when they were attacked. Madinah's friend survived and was treated at hospital. The other two victims of violence, since the new school year began, were also stabbed at bus stops.

Many students of junior and senior high schools seem to have carved out their respective territories, where they supposedly rule. Students from other schools who enter this territory -- whether by foot or on public buses -- are considered intruders and are attacked. Pin pointing the culprits in the fatal brawls proves difficult. Students have developed a strong bond and they are willing to share the guilt.

Various measures have already been taken to prevent student brawls but they seem to have failed. The Jakarta administration standardized uniforms for all state schools in the late 1970s to avoid interschool fighting. And the education authorities have introduced zoning, encouraging parents to send children to the closest school.

More recently, police began conducting regular operations to check on students' bags. Not surprisingly, but to many people's horror nevertheless, they seized sickles and other sharp objects. Some schools have even hired police officers to protect students against possible attacks from other schools. But such protection is effective only within a limited area. Many of the fights have occurred some distance away from the schools.

These measures are obviously not enough. Something else must be done urgently lest more innocent victims are injured or killed. Getting tougher on the young students won't help very much. The police's role is limited mostly to preventing physical clashes or dealing with the brawlers afterwards. The problem should be tackled at the front end, that is to say at home and at school.

Parents should be made more responsible for the behavior of their brawling children. All parents understandingly would want to protect their children and would go to all lengths to cover up their wrongdoing. But they could also encourage their children to channel their energy and vitality toward more productive and constructive activities.

Schools could also do a lot more. Jakarta Deputy Governor for Social Welfare R.S. Museno has suggested that schools arrange more extracurricular activities for students to fill in their spare time more constructively. Others have pointed out that the lack of physical training facilities at most schools in Jakarta -- understandably because of soaring land prices -- deprives children a normal outlet for their energy and aggression. As a result, street brawls have become their outlet.

All these occurrences point to the need for a more coherent effort to stem student brawls instead of the piecemeal measures taken in the past. But, while this is a problem for society to solve, the key still lies first and foremost with parents, with teachers also playing an important role.