Stop student brawls

Stop student brawls

From Warta Kota

Jakarta, as the capital city of Indonesia, is now considered by many to be insecure, in disarray and lacking in humanity. This feeling of insecurity is particularly felt when we hear and see how daringly bag snatchers, muggers, robbers and the many other types of criminals ("you name 'em, we have 'em") conduct their activities in public places. In other words, violence is everywhere in our midst.

First, there are the vigilante-style beatings and lynchings of suspects by mobs, or the burning alive of suspects leaving nothing but charred corpses -- arbitrary acts of brutality that should not be allowed to continue by city residents.

Then we have brawls among students. One would certainly feel dumbfounded when one read a newspaper account of the student brawls that appeared recently, "Dozens of high school students have died a useless death, scores of private cars, public buses and school buildings have been damaged". Apart from that many other criminal acts have been committed by students, including bus hijackings and other offenses. All of these have led us to be deeply concerned about the fate of the up and coming generation.

In view of the above facts, it is high time we did something: in the name of humanity, we must try our best to put an end to student brawling. Parents, teachers, school principals, police, the city administration, and the people's representatives together must play a more significant role in order to seek effective ways of overcoming these problems.

Don't let the young generation die in vain or become brutalized. Those involved in brawls are just like hoodlums, brandishing weapons and throwing stones practically at anything or, worse still, stripping passengers of their belongings. Let us vow to stop this disruption and make Jakarta a peaceful place to live in.

ERWIN H AL

Jakarta