Peer pressure reason behind school fights, says official

By JUNIOR UKAHA
STUDENTS’ involvement in peer groups in schools is one cause of school fights and it must be addressed, says Morobe education chairman Andrew Gena.
Gena, a teacher for more than 20 years and Leron-Wantoat local level government president, said this following a series of school fights between two secondary schools in Lae last week.
Gena said peer pressure groups in the two schools were behind the fighting, which has been happening on a regular basis.
“I have on three occasions met with the teachers and boards of these schools,” he said.
“And during the meetings, I have found out that the schools have peer groups that students are members of who are leading these fights. Not all students are involved but the ring leaders of the peer groups and their followers are creating the problem.
“Other students just join in in fear of being rejected by the mob or being beaten by their friends in the group.”
Gena said all past mediations, negotiations and meetings have been fruitless so it was time for police to intervene and treat school fights as a criminal matter. Gena said the handful of ring leaders of the peer groups needed to be identified and dealt with so the group would be neutralised.
“They need to be terminated, transferred to another school out of town or where possible arrested and charged for starting the fights.”
Gena said once those leaders were dealt with their followers would be scared and the fights would end. He added that parents needed to play a more proactive role and find out how their sons and daughters were doing at school.
He said parents must ensure their children did not join peer groups because that would affect their education and lead them into all sorts of problems.