Establish shock, self-managed teams

(Baonghean) -In recent years, school violence has increased alarmingly. Therefore, the education sector and related agencies are proposing many solutions to ensure school security.

Painful reality

According to the latest figures, from October 2011 to September 2012 alone, the whole province had 15 cases of student fighting and 5 cases of students disturbing public order. Surprisingly, in a mountainous school like Con Cuong High School, 8 cases occurred (5 cases of disturbing public order and 3 cases of fighting, of which 3 cases resulted in 1-year expulsion, almost all caused by female students). Previously, according to a report by the Nghe An Department of Education and Training, from September 2009 to May 31, 2011, in Nghe An province, 93 cases of conflict, quarreling, and fighting occurred. Among these, many cases reached a serious, alarming level, culminating in the death of 2 students.

Disciplinary violations by students are not necessarily school violence, but can also be transformed into many forms, including violations of the law. A year ago, some junior high school students in Vinh City specialized in entering supermarkets with a unique "game": using small knives to slash clothes, bags, and items in the supermarket. At first, the supermarket managers mistakenly thought there were vandals, but after a period of monitoring and catching them in the act, they were shocked when they found out that the vandals were only 8th and 9th graders. When questioned, the authorities were also very surprised when the students calmly declared: "It's just because they like it (!?)...

This is also a deviation in perception and personality of the young generation, who want to prove themselves and leave their “mark” with crazy actions. Or recently, the police also arrested 3 9th grade students who broke the ATM of Saigon Commercial Bank on Nguyen Sy Sach Street in early December 2011. The behavior of all 3 students was very professional with a carefully prepared plan and tools. When caught red-handed by the riot police, the students confessed that they read in the newspaper about the ATM machine drilling and cutting to steal 1.3 billion VND in Ho Chi Minh City, so they followed suit.

Students of Ha Huy Tap High School before class

Looking for solutions

Obviously, the situation of school violence has reached an alarming level, but relevant agencies have not yet found a radical solution. Part of the reason is that the students are minors, so prosecuting them before the law is only done when the consequences are extremely serious. Meanwhile, the highest authority of the school is only to suspend students from school for 1 year. However, this form is also a "last resort", because "this is a measure that no one wants, because from then on we may lose students, moreover, if they are uneducated, who can be sure that the student will not continue to give up and become a criminal. The important thing is to educate them so that they know how to admit their mistakes and strive" - ​​a teacher in the industry shared.
To ensure school security, the Nghe An Department of Education has identified this as a political and regular task. Right from the beginning of the school year, the Department of Education and Training has directed specialized departments to deploy documents to the grassroots level. In addition, it has coordinated with the PA83 Department and Nghe An Police to organize periodic meetings every 6 months on school security at universities, colleges, and vocational schools, which have now been expanded to junior high and high school levels. From the above implementation plan, the Department of Education and Training has required that every month and every quarter, all units must have a report on the school security situation (SSS) of the school, so that measures can be taken to overcome and handle the situation. Currently, from the 2012-2013 school year, the Department of Education and Training is also proposing to organize a SSS meeting for all schools from primary to high school levels once a year. Accordingly, the whole province will be divided into 5 clusters, each year will be hosted by 1 district in turn, the cluster leader is responsible for grasping the situation of all schools in the cluster, closely coordinating with police agencies at all levels.

An important solution is for schools to protect themselves and their students by hiring security guards, bodyguards, establishing shock troops, and self-management... Mr. Tran Duy Thanh - Vice Principal of Le Viet Thuat High School said: "As a school located on the border between 3 wards of Truong Thi, Ben Thuy and Hung Dung, which have many hot spots, security work is always a top priority. Many years ago, due to the lack of fences and security, the number of outside youths coming in to threaten and beat students often occurred. Therefore, since 1993, we have established a monitoring team with a number of teachers and advanced youth union members as the core, with the task of ensuring discipline and security at the school. Thanks to that, in the past 10 years, the school has been considered the leading unit in the city in security and order."

Currently, out of 25 secondary schools in the city, only about 3 schools hire security guards: Ha Huy Tap, Le Loi and Quang Trung secondary schools. Mr. Ho Xuan Dan, a member of the security team at Ha Huy Tap secondary school, affirmed: "In the past, there were still fights between students outside the school gate, but since we started working, those things have all been stopped."

Thus, in addition to self-management groups, supervisors, and the Security Committee, security guards are also a good solution. However, schools do not have much budget, so they mainly hire retirees or local people, who are all unskilled, aged 40 and over, and even over 60. However, these people do not have security skills and their health is no longer guaranteed. Currently, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Department are encouraging schools to hire professional security guards, who have undergone serious training, so that this force can truly ensure the safety of both schools and students. However, these hired guards also need to have a company or unit with legal status and be legally guaranteed. However, according to Mr. Nguyen Trong Hoan - Deputy Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training, not many schools will be able to hire security guards because the high cost makes it difficult to afford. The Department of Education and Training also hopes that the authorities (police force) will have training courses on skills and minimum knowledge for the current security force at schools, and also hopes that there will be a source of funding from the State to pay for security work.

Tran Hai