Eliminate violence from our classrooms

To most of us, the belief that our children should have to worry
about violence at school is unthinkable. Parents should be able to
trust that their kids schools are safe, and that an environment of
learning should be devoid of violence.

Yet according to evidence being released this week from Plan

International and the International Center for Research on Women,
violence is distressingly commonplace within schools in Asia.

The report, Promoting Equality and Safety in Schools, documents

the disturbingly frequent incidents of violence that children
experience in school, on the way to class, and at home. Speaking to
students in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Nepal and Pakistan, the
report has found that an alarming seven out of 10 students have
experienced violence at school. These statistics run as high as 84
percent in Indonesia.

This violence is often exacerbated by gender stereotypes. Too often,

these gender roles are normalized in students minds at an early
age, and so too is the erroneous notion that gender-based violence is
an acceptable response.

The fact that schools are a place of learning, where childrens

horizons are expected to be broadened and where we believe that
educators are nurturing an environment for children to be world-
class citizens, makes these findings all the more alarming.

The more that children are exposed to violence,the more it becomes

normalized in their minds.

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Part of the problem is that schools themselves are often not
providing an environment free from violence, fear, and
intimidation. In the case of Pakistan, nearly 50 percent of all
reported cases of violence were committed by a member of staff.
Infrastructure is also a problem; in each of the five countries
surveyed, school bathrooms are a common location for violence,
including particularly high instances of sexual assault.

Even though many children feel unsafe, the report notes that they
are unlikely to report violence to parents or school staff for fear of
punishment or retribution.

The more that children are exposed to violence, whether at home or

at school, the more it becomes normalized in their minds.
Increasingly, children stop reporting incidents of violence because
they stop seeing it as wrong; they come to think of it as a normal
response or, at least, an inevitable part of their school day. And kids
who dont regard violence as unusual or wrong are all the more
likely to become perpetrators themselves.

This cycle needs to stop.

Promoting Equality and Safety in Schools contains 24

recommendations, ranging from the introduction of curricula to
change behavior and attitudes regarding gender and violence, the
establishment of services to enhance protection, and the enactment
of policies and laws to prohibit and enforce regulations abolishing
violence against
children.

These recommendations also include proposals that teachers and

school administrators must be well trained, equipped and
supported to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in and

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around schools. Counseling services need to be available at the
school level, alongside comprehensive training and enforcement
mechanisms. At the same time, infrastructure changes need to be
made, like separate toilet facilities for girls and boys.

Also, any action needs to encompass a wider approach that

dismantles the gender construction that unpins much of this
violence, and which challenges the very idea of violence as an
acceptable response, whether in the classroom or at home.

Every child has the right to a quality education, free from violence
and the threat of violence. The Plan organization is committed to
working with educators, governments, parents, and students to
enact the recommendations in this report.

At the moment, we are piloting a project in schools in Vietnam

where through activities and teacher training, students and the
school staff can begin to better understand the importance of gender
equality.

We are getting to work on making sure that parents, teachers,

students, and legislators know that violence has no place in schools,
or anywhere in a childs life.

See more at:

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/28/eliminate-
violence-our-classrooms.html#sthash.SjgvWYaH.dpuf