Twelve female students of Std XI took ill and had to be hospitalised after another four students played mischief and used pepper spray on them at the Shree Shantadurga Higher Secondary School in Bicholim on Thursday. This is reported to be the second pepper spray incident in the school, which has gained notoriety for students’ bad behaviour.
No doubt there has been swift action initiated with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant asking the police and the education department to probe the matter. And five students, including one girl, have been suspended for a month in a decision taken on Friday.
The question is whether suspension brings closure to the issue. Is that the answer to a problem staring at school management across the State? Can temporarily reprimanding students help in inculcating discipline and bring about a change? The answer is an absolute no. The action taken against the students is only to appease those parents affected by the incident, and it cannot remedy a situation that is increasingly getting out of hand.
Several schools and higher secondaries witness students turning hostile and indulging in anti-social and aggressive behaviour. Smoking cigarettes, vaping, consuming alcohol, and resorting to substance abuse on campuses are alarming trends schools are grappling with in modern times.
Schools need to look beyond punitive measures and embrace psychotherapeutic interventions to eliminate or reduce student maladaptive behaviour via motivational techniques. Counselling is necessary to understand their mindsets and behavioural patterns so that mental conditioning can be worked upon. Schools need to look at holistic ways where discipline, counselling and remedial measures are strategically put in motion.
While the students have been promptly suspended, it is surprising that the Department has not initiated an inquiry against the school and served them notice. An educational institute’s responsibility is to ensure discipline and provide a safe, secure and wholesome study environment. In a co-ed school where boys and girls share classrooms, the school management should have been all the more cautious, and an earlier incident was enough to initiate course-corrective measures.
Parents entrust their wards to the school management, believing they are safe. Situations such as these form a complete breach of trust.
The school cannot be absolved of responsibility towards students, and the principal must be taken to task over the incident too. It has emerged that the situation on the campus had spiralled out of control, with students even carrying cigarettes to class.
Installing new CCTVs will help monitor students, but children will remain vulnerable if values and responsibilities are not subjects that are discussed. There has to be an attempt to address students’ emotional and behavioural needs to create a friendly and conducive study environment.
The Bicholim school episode is an eye-opener for the Department and other schools to take discipline and protocols seriously. The pepper spray incident could have triggered an ugly law and order situation.
A final thought: It is intriguing that 12 students admitted to the primary health centre after the pepper spray episode had breathing issues. Pepper sprays primarily blur vision due to their inflammatory effects and are typically used as a self-defence tool by women. Is there more than what meets the eye?
