Legislator urges schools to build harmonious spaces
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Member of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) Alex Indra Lukman has called on all members of the school community — teachers, education staff and pupils alike — to build a space of togetherness during teaching and learning activities, so as to prevent actions that could end in criminal conduct.
“The responsibility of schools relates not only to the curriculum, but also to interactions within the school environment, both among pupils and with their teachers,” Alex Indra Lukman said in a written statement issued in Jakarta on Wednesday.
According to him, the statement was made in response to the case of a homemade bomb detonated by a pupil at a madrasah in Padang City on Tuesday (14 July) at midday. The bomb was set off using a fire lighter during the break at around 10.15am Western Indonesia Time (WIB), in front of classroom XII IPS 7 at the school located on the outskirts of the West Sumatra provincial capital.
The DPR RI member representing the West Sumatra I electoral district explained that, based on the investigation by the Padang Municipal Police (Polresta Padang), the perpetrator — himself a registered pupil at the madrasah — had brought four homemade bombs to the school. However, only one was detonated, the blast of which cracked a classroom wall.
Other pieces of evidence seized included a black box, a black bag, a mobile phone, firecrackers, a knife, an arrow, marbles, bolts and various other items.
Alex asked parents to play a more active role in raising their children, rather than leaving the responsibility entirely to schools.
He cited the example of instilling humanitarian values, which would leave a deeper imprint on a child’s soul if carried out by parents at home.
“That way, children will grow up with a more tolerant spirit and will not be inclined to bully their friends,” he said.
He also urged investigators from Polresta Padang handling the homemade bomb explosion not to disregard the child’s rights as regulated under the Child Protection Law, namely Law No. 23 of 2002, as amended by Law No. 35 of 2014 and Law No. 17 of 2016.