Frightful school days

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.