Thursday, 3 October 2002  
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Getting at the whole truth in school violence

A deeply purturbed public is likely to recover some of its composure on learning that both President Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe are evincing considerable concern over the explosive emergence of violence among some local schools. The public is likely to look forward to official inquiries which would reveal the whole truth about these developments and for purposeful follow-up action by the authorities to put things right among our schools, now that the country's top-most decision makers are taking a personal interest in these tragic events.

We hope the interest shown by the President and the Prime Minister would result in not only a diagnosis but also in a cure to the dangerous, new disease of intra and inter-school violence. As we have commented before, what is most glaring about this species of youth-centred violence is both its increasingly brutal and organised nature.

In examining this phenomenon the services of the sociologists are as important as those of the law-enforcers and educationists. There is no escaping the conviction and understanding that the general climate of violence which had enveloped Sri Lanka for long years, constitutes the immediate social matrix or womb for the occurrence of violence and brutality of this kind. Unfortunately, no consistent, concerted and substantive sociological investigations have been conducted over the years on the spill-over effects of the ethnic conflict and the accompanying war, to enable concerned sections to anticipate and defuse problems of this nature.

Some work has been done in this direction by some UN specialized agencies and a few NGOs, but the quantum of research doesn't seem to be matching the demand.

We hope this dramatic breakdown of school discipline, as some choose to put it, would prompt the relevant sociological research which would enable its containment and defusion.

Meanwhile, some salient features of this species of violence need to be noted. To begin with, its organised nature needs to be taken cognizance of. In the incident in Gampaha, some 200 students had banded themselves together to attack the neighbouring school. The question which arises is - didn't the school authorities, police and even parents and elders get wind of these preparations which would have been quite elaborate? Why wasn't the schoolboy mob which marched on their target in the open, stopped in its tracks, by those who had the authority to do so? Were there outside interests which egged the errant schoolboys on? Did any such groups arm them and ensured that they acted with impunity ?

These are just a few of the relevant issues which may occur to an impartial observer. Hopefully, the inquiring authorities would give them some thought too in their probes.

Even a casual assessment of this situation would reveal that quite a number of persons and bodies have been, in all probability, not been taking their responsibilities seriously. Closely related to the culture of violence which has gripped local society is this sense of irresponsibility among many which enables cruel tragedies to occur. An honest inquiry into the breakdown of discipline in schools, we are certain, is likely to lead to areas outside the school system, to the administrative and governing system of the country itself. For, the rot is multi-layered and deep-seated.

What is also obvious is the increasingly brutal nature of violence centred on our schools. This too needs to be taken into account by the experts. Our view, however, is that the violence which erupts in sub-systems, such as schools, is a comparatively pale reflection of the violence which pervades the wider political community. The former cannot be contained without defusing the latter.

This point should be food for thought for the apologists of violence and for those who advocate a military solution to the ethnic conflict. Violence not only begets violence but replicates itself over the length and breadth of society, schools included.

The natural choice

Cricket fans disappointed by the rain gods over the weekend at the outcome of the Champions Trophy final can find consolation with watching another keen contest that begins today. Pakistan and Australia, two of the game's giants clash at the Tamil Union grounds in the first Test on a neutral ground. No doubt the cricketing fare would be a gourmet's feast.

For us Sri Lankans this match is yet another feather in our collective cap. This would be the third major international sporting event to be staged here in the past two months. The first was the Asian Track and Field championship and the second the ICC Trophy.

The very fact that Australia, which refused to play in Colombo during the World Cup in 1996, has agreed on Sri Lanka as a safe neutral venue, speaks volumes as to how attractive we have become for international events.

We always had the infrastructure in our superb hotels. We always had the willing and able staff to deal with events. What we lacked was the safe atmosphere.

Now that we have it, let's resolve not to lose it.

HNB-Pathum Udanaya2002

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