Recently, a 55-year-old public school teacher was allegedly assaulted by two high school students in Mindanao. The students allegedly beat up the teacher because one of them was reprimanded by the teacher over a basic dress code infraction of wearing earrings. This incident is the latest in a string of incidents of violence in school perpetrated by young individuals. This latest episode of violence however seems to have crossed a line.
For many of us in our generation, the idea of shouting at a teacher much less physically attacking one is so unthinkable. As a teacher, this occurrence bothers me to my very core. A co-teacher in the school where I teach once had an incident where he called the attention of a student who refused to stand during the flag ceremony. The student posted in her social media feed that she was “victimized” and traumatized because she was reprimanded and described the teacher in not so pleasant terms.
I remember being shocked first at any student refusing to stand during the flag ceremony and second at her attempt to gaslight the teacher and paint herself as the victim. Apparently things have escalated nowadays. Some young netizens in the comments even have gone on to defend the two students stating that there must be a reason. What is happening? A minor reminder about school policies should neither trigger nor warrant a violent response.
There is an ongoing program in our schools that seeks to tackle issues on nutrition by implementing a massive feeding program. Perhaps, in addition to solving the issue of biological hunger in schools, we must now begin to look at “ behavioral hunger”. A funded intensive program to provide psychological support, mental health counseling and anger management resources must now be implemented to solve this growing crisis.
There was a program launched in the University of the Philippines by both non-government organizations and government agencies called Project Stigma which sought and called for a coordinated, synchronized, and systemic program for mental health awareness and behavioral intervention for the students in schools. Often, kids nowadays are hesitant to admit mental health issues because of the stigma attached to seeking help. As such, there must be a program that seeks to give work arounds for the barriers to mental health awareness and intervention. Our teachers and school facilities cannot be expected to carry this fight alone.
Perhaps, our relevant agencies can revisit the project and call on private organizations to help and implement this program. This is my oblique observation.
