School violence: A different tactic

JOANNE K JOSEPH

MAYBE WE can try a different tactic where youth violence is concerned. When we see someone in a particular school uniform, from a particular neighbourhood, of a particular complexion, or with a particular texture of hair, instead of pre-judging and condemning them in our minds we can silently say a prayer for them. For they wrestle not against flesh and blood but against dark forces.

We live in a society where some parents impart a spirit of hostility to their children. It often begins with that first act of violence against a babe – rejection by a father. Or, as a corollary, the refusal of a rejected mother to allow a father into a child's life.

From there it is a short distance to a youth growing up in a home where he hardly receives a tender word from those who are supposed to love him unconditionally. He learns that he has to be rough and tough at all times, and give no quarter; just like mummy and daddy do with him, with each other, and with everybody else.

Our children step out of their homes and, "braps," they are in the real world. Here lawbreakers are more vex than you. You dare not complain about anything they do; from the wealthy who ignore all rules and regulations and commit their mega-crimes, to the poorer ones whose escapades run the gamut of petty crimes and violent felonies.

If you try to arrest anybody, the public swarms the police and peppers them with abuse. If you reach as far as bringing them before the courts, the country can, in the end, owe them all kinds of money for having the temerity to make efforts to call them to account. From all this, our children learn that the big and bad, and the wrong and strong, get away with it.

Social media, in which all youths reside, is also a hotbed of violent injustice. The weakest in morality are the most aggressive online. Here racism and political hatred know no bounds. This is a free outlet for the worst of the worst. Yet lies are not corrected, they are adopted by those who fasten onto them as a palliative to confirm their own warped world view and give credence to their grouses.

When children are attacked on social media, we expect them to keep it all in perspective and deal with it in a mature way. Yet, the adults online are destroying reputations, damaging lives and creating real harm to people, institutions and the country.

Recently, parents have gotten caught up in fights between students which took place as a result of bullying. We all condemn this. However, why have they come to this point? Perhaps they do not possess the strength of character, the social status and the financial wherewithal to deal competently with the situation at hand. They are at the end of their tether and they are trying to protect their children the only way they know how.

The real problem here is, who are the authorities of first resort when children are being bullied? They are the ones who are not just equipped, but authorised to take action. Where are the principals? They are not there simply to educate, they are meant to administrate their whole little world, their jurisdiction. At the very least, they must do what it takes to keep all their charges safe and protected.

What really is "taxing" on a school compound? Isn't it robbery? What is threatening and beating? Isn't that assault? Isn't extortion against the law? Where are the police?

Many people believe that passing stringent laws against violence will harm those of a particular class. However, it is actually people of that particular class who suffer the most at the hands of violent offenders. If those who are tempted to reach for an illegal gun know that such a crime will land them in prison, that may prevent them from adopting a lifestyle that would almost certainly lead to their untimely demise.

Those who complain the most about violence usually do the least to help. Could this be because the accustomed perpetrators and victims of said violence bear little resemblance to their own loved ones? Okay then, you may not choose to help, but at the very least, don't hinder nah.

If you have a sphere of influence, exercise it for good and not for evil. If you have a vote, vote to save a life. If you exercise authority, don't look for every reason to not do something, find a way to get it done.

If we arm our youth with the right weapons and give them the right support, they most certainly will be better able to defeat the spirit of violence that now assails our land. May the Lord bless them.