Unbridled student brawls

Unbridled student brawls

From Merdeka

I totally agree with a Jakarta mayor's suggestion to put wayward students, constantly involved in school brawls and on drugs, on the blacklist. Next to that, village and district chiefs should be instructed to note down the identities of students frequently involved in acts of vandalism. However, I feel the above measures are not enough to solve this problem.

Apart from the uneducative aspects and the risk of raising antagonistic feelings, students could always ask someone else to do the job for them, or parents with connections inside a village or district chief's office could have the job done in exchange for a fee. It is no longer a secret that matters related to village chief offices can be settled in a smooth manner, as long as one pays up.

For this reason, it would be best if parents are punished as well, besides recording the names of bad schoolboys. The punishment could take the form of reimbursing the financial losses caused by their children.

The delinquent children should report daily to the police office for a certain period of time. If a child has killed a schoolmate, for instance, parents of the victim have the right to demand amends from the killer. Amends could range from the time the victim started going to school until senior high school when he was killed, in addition to a jail term.

In case the parents of the killer are poor, a longer prison term should be demanded. These are only suggestions, since student brawls still occur occasionally, which continues to be a great concern to the society. Police and other security personnel from the regional military command should conduct more frequent patrolling in places where student brawls are highly likely to occur.

RACHMAN S.

Jakarta