Student brawls in Jakarta

Student brawls in Jakarta

From Suara Karya

I feel very concerned about the continuing brawls involving high school students. I think it is an extraordinary problem for the students, for the schools, for the parents and even for the government.

While riding to my office at Tanjung Priok on Oct. 18 on a metromini bus around YARSI university, Jl. Suprapto, Jakarta, many high school students were leaving school from Cempaka Putih direction. At that time there was no fighting.

The metromini bus was stopped by some eight high school students male and female in front of the Honda automotive plant, Jl. Yos Sudarso, North Jakarta. I was curious, normally school is over at 1 p.m., my watch showed 10 a.m. Why had the students left their school? When I asked them why, they said their teachers were not in. When asked further how many times were the teachers absent in one month, they said "often".

Similarly, the students of two private high schools around Jl. Swasembada Timur and Jl. Swasembada Barat almost three times a week leave school before 1 p.m. (Mondays through Thursdays), and especially on Saturdays they fight against other high school students at Jl. Ampera, North Jakarta.

I conclude from this that early departure from school triggers the fighting. So, there must be substitute teachers if some teachers are absent.

Clearly the students don't consider the following when they are brawling:

1. If they or their parents or brothers are walking and are disturbed by a students brawling, how do they feel?

2. If they are hit by stones and are injured, who will pay the medical bills but their parents?

3. If they are caught by the police and punished or questioned, or perhaps asked to prepare statements or anything else, who will make the arrangements but their parents?

4. Fighting is useless. So, better go home and help their parents do something at home.

That is part of the Jakarta high school fighting problem. So far the high school students' fights have aroused concerns to parents in Jakarta and perhaps in other big cities.

We'll give some tips to overcome it in another opportunity. I have some pointers which might be helpful in overcoming students' brawls.

GUSTAP MARPAUNG

Jakarta