Ariefa Efianingrum
Faculty of Education, Yogyakarta State University [email protected]
[email protected] Abstract
This study aims at describing strategies to prevent students violence in Education Service of Yogyakarta City.
This research employed an interpretive approach. The subjects of the study were the Head of Education Development of Education Service of Yogyakarta City. The results show that the Education Service of Yogyakarta City had implemented some strategies to prevent students’ violence. In terms of relation among the schools, a relation was implemented by the involvement of the teacher advisors of the Inter-School Students’
Organization (OSIS) in MGPO. The Education Service also held leadership training for the candidates of OSIS, the friendship-bridging activities, and inter-regional students’ exchange. They also made cooperation with Police Department through One School Two Polices (SSDP). The preventive strategies involved some levels, i.e.
individual level, relational level, community level, and social level. Some activities related to individual level were individual care approach, habituation and discipline establishment in school, observing the students’
activities, religious mentoring, religious program, students’ vehicle raids, social activities, and students’ home visit. The outcomes could identify some good practices in schools which successfully prevented students’
violence. Furthermore, the results could generate strategic, collaborative, and effective policies in order to prevent and cut off the students’ violence.
Keywords: strategic policies, prevention, students violence
1. Introduction
The reality of student violence as reported in the media has raised some concerns. Ongoing student violence appears repetitive and cyclical in nature. Whereas schooling is ideally a vehicle for establishing character values. Vertices of pupil violence always exist among students. This study aimed to describe the violence prevention strategy by the Education Service of Yogyakarta city.
Violence in school is a part of youth violence, even wider violence in the community. Youth violence is a behavior that may be a continuation of the previous period (childhood). Violence includes various behaviors such as bullying, slapping, punching, and use of weapons. Victims may suffer serious physical injury, social, emotional, and even death. Young people can be a victim, perpetrator, or
witness violence
(www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention).
Data showed that in 2007 5.5% of national high school students did not go to school because they did not feel safe at school or on their way to or from school. Another study found that as many as 160,000 students went home early every day because they were afraid of being bullied. Violence can cause physical injuries such as bruises, broken bones, head trauma and other serious injuries.
However, not all wounds can be seen. Violence can also cause other effects such as depression, anxiety, and other psychological problems, including fear.
According to Pedro Mateu-Galabert; Howard Lune
(2003), teenagers do not fight in a vacuum, but in the selection of peer-group, gang, and group conflict, they reflect the organizational arrangements and the culture of the school and the environment. They need a gang affiliates for their own safety. Students are vulnerable to crime while away from school. In fact, living far from the school might be dangerous for some students.
Society has a weak social control of its members.
Student violence is a part of youth violence.
Young people, in relation to the generation of a society, are not only the agent in the redefinition of values. The term young people have demonstrated in defiance story or stories about the protest.
Society is also understood as devian behavior, which is out of the common values or of normative rules in a particular social environment. According to Bradley (Irwan, 2006) this occurs because: 1) there is a presumption that the value that we have in general should also be owned by young people (because of the learning process), so that when the value is not found, there would be some irregularities, 2) when we conducted a study of a heterogeneous community, a variety of categories such as gender, generations, classes have been intermingled into one.
Developing tolerance and the ability to prevent conflict have been spearheaded by many countries. The role of education is very important in developing the ability to promote peace. Training is a vital and effective media to raise awareness and abilities required to perform the action more
equitable (Francis, 2006: 38). Training can be facilitated by the parties that are competent and committed to the prevention of violence.
Each school where students have experienced violence cases usually has different ways to cope with and handle. In some extent, there are schools that are so persistent in various ways repeatedly remind the students to solve problems without violence. However, several schools are losing authority in front of students (Hasballah M. Saad, 2003). Responding to the violent behavior of students, various parties often speak from the point of their own interests and are usually sporadic and not comprehensive. In addition, not many people parse the problem concretely by involving themselves in seeing the problems in the field.
Experts analyze that the problem of student violence is not merely the problem of an individual- personality psychology, but rather a problem of social psychology (Ponny Astuti Retno, 2008).
Many parties have offered a variety of solutions for preventing and overcoming violence among students. But the root of the problem would have to be parsed first, so that intervention touches on a more extensive and comprehensive aspects.
Strategic solutions can reach the individual, groupal, comunal, even societal aspects.
The problematics of violence need violence prevention strategies that are: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Here is described strategies to prevent
student violence
(www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention), which include:
1.1 Individual level strategies
The strategy at this level aims to develop: self- awareness, emotional control, self-esteem, positive social skills, social problem solving, conflict resolution, and teamwork. This program helps students learn social skills through observation and interaction with other students. The program includes: teaching and learning, modeling or exemplary, role playing method, non-violence teaching, and strengthening the value of non- violence among students.
1.2 Relationship level strategies
This strategy includes: the strategy of cooperation between schools (inter-school collaboration), strategic partnerships with the private schools, schools with NGO cooperation strategy, and the strategy of cooperation between the schools and the government.
1.2.1 Community level strategies
The strategy at this level focuses on modifying the characteristics of the community and school settings. Schools are closely linked with the community. Attempts to change the physical and social environment of the community have some impact on schools. These strategies include:
increased community participation, providing formal and informal supervision after school programs, recreational opportunities, reducing student access to alcohol and drugs, improvement of welfare/income and the improvement of housing conditions.
1.3 Societal level strategies
Strategies to change the socio-cultural climate to reduce violence are not easy to do. This strategy is associated with a public information campaign about social norms, reduction of media violence, and reform of the education system.
2. Research Method
This study used an interpretive/qualitative approach. Setting of this study were senior high schools (SMA) within the city of Yogyakarta. The unit of analysis in this study was at the institutional level. The institution in question is the Education Service of Yogyakarta city. Subjects in this study were the implementers of education policy at the Education Service of Yogyakarta.
The data collection technique used in this study was the interview with the Head of Education Service of Education Development Section of Yogyakarta under the topic of the strategic efforts made in preventing student violence. The research data were analyzed through descriptive-qualitative method.
3. Findings and Discussion
Each school has strategies which are appropriate to the context, dynamics, and the urgency of their schools in the efforts to prevent student violence in Yogyakarta. Implementation of school policy refers to the policy of the Department of Education. School policies are implemented which could be the policy that governs general aspects of life in school or could be the policy to regulate specific aspects of school life. General aspects of school life, are basically stipulated in school rules that refer to Policy Education Office of Yogyakarta. Furthermore, the school has the authority to make regulations on some particular aspects.
Based on the interview with the Head of Educational Development Section of the Department of Education of Yogyakarta (Mr. WS), it can be described that to prevent student violence, the government has actually established the Forum of Communications for Student Organization (OSIS) or FKPO and the Student Organization Supervisor Forum (MGPO). In reality, the forums are not well-facilitated. One main cause of the problems was the fact that MGPO was different from MGMP (Subject Teachers Forum). MGMP was directly related to the curriculum and the learning process, so that all activities can be
facilitated by grants from the budget. As for the grant MGPO has never existed. In addition, the forum is planned to be activated again.
Since 2009, the Department of Education of Yogyakarta has initiated and organized the Friendship-Bridge Program. At first, the purpose of the program was to overcome the student violence.
Friendship-Bridge program involved students in Yogyakarta, especially those who involved in the case of violence among students. Through the program, students who were often involved in juvenile delinquency were given such a coach.
However, for several years, the program did not continue.
After 3 years of vacuum, the program was executed again in November 2013. Participants of the event were students who were representatives of the appointed senior schools. The schools determined the number of participants to be delivered to the event. The criteria for the selection of participants in the Friendship-Bridge was the students should have some influence in the school.
Education Service of Yogyakarta seriously made a container that was able to bring together students from various schools, particularly students of SMA/SMK in order to minimize the occurrence of various friction which lately happened.
Friendship-Bridge was the answer of gathering the students and followed by 124 students of SMA/SMK coming from 35 schools. During the three days from Friday-Sunday, November 22 to 24, 2013, hundreds of students were trained to have a sense of camaraderie among fellow students. In addition, the program also aimed to establish student volunteers.
In the implementation of this Friendship- Bridge, Educational Development Section made some collaborations with several institutions, namely: Police of Yogyakarta, Parliament of Yogyakarta, and National Narcotics Agency or BNN of Yogyakarta. In 2013, the participants were enthusiastic to initiate stewardship. About 40 students had willed to be active members of student volunteers.
The participants were sent to participate in the Friendship Bridge were influential students in each school, both of which have the positive influence or the negative influence. They gathered in a forum with a variety of activities. The activities were gatherings, outbound, and reflection. The whole series of activities was packed in a nice atmosphere for students. After the activities were completed, the Department of Education facilitated the formation of the board of the Friendship-Bridge Force. Hopefully, in the future the board is able to actively conduct activities that maintain the friendship among school students.
Beside 124 students, there were eight accompanying teachers who were invited in the Friendship-Bridge. During three-day program, the
students felt shy at first and were grouped according to their schools. In the next day, the students had to mingle with students from other schools. This suggests that in such atmosphere, the difference was not a problem, because it can melt in full friendship and togetherness. The activity was expected to prevent friction between students from different schools. Such activities could be a vehicle for the development of the values of togetherness and familiarity among students. However, it did not guarantee that after the Friendship-Bridge activities ended, the student fights automatically disappeared, because the war between the students in the virtual world through facebook and twitter often potentially triggered the hostility among students.
Therefore, each school must constantly monitor and control the facebook or twitter used by the students.
Sport events often also become the trigger of the fight among students. Related to this, the Department of Education sent a circular letter to the school. The circular letter contains the following: if the school will hold a sports event, it need to be notified by the Education Service. Thus, the department can be involved in the preparation process. At every technical meeting, the Education Service recommends to the committee in order to consider a number of aspects, such as the map of participants, the estimated number of supporters, the placement of supporters in the stadium, and the concept of security. Furthermore, the departemnt will coordinate with the police in order to anticipate things that are not desirable.
In addition to Friendship-Bridge, the Education Service also organized the education and training for the board student organizations (OSIS), concerning on leadership and doing outbond (conducted in Kaliurang). The speakers came from the Education Service. It also conducted the school visits, intensified students meetings through Communication Forum of OSIS (FKPO) and conducted the meetings of Vice Principal of Student Affairs.
Education Service also organized the inter- regional student exchange. The activity which began in 2004 aimed to improve the knowledge of students about the nationalism through direct implementation to another region or province in Indonesia. The participants were the representatives of high schools of Yogyakarta, especially year XI.
Every year, about 40 students participate in the event. Students who have to pass the selection phase which includes administration of tests, tests of academic, cultural knowledge, and interview.
After that, they were sent to schools outside the area for 2 weeks (14 days), to become the ambassadors for education and culture in order to strengthen the nationalism. Before leaving, they were given such enrichment on the culture and tourism of Yogyakarta. They had a duty as the ambassador for education, to promote the potential
of education (at various levels, including universities) and ambassador of culture/tourism of Yogyakarta. They needed to convince people that Yogyakarta is still feasible as the city of educational purposes. This activity aimed to train and familiarize students to adapt and interact with students from other regions. As such, they had a tolerance in a multicultural society, so that they could support the realization of unity.
The student exchange activities has brought great benefits, because the students could see directly the culture and customs of other regions.
Moreover, the students could adapt to the students from other schools in other regions through learning together. They might also share information, so they could be more equipped to live in harmony and peace in the midst of society. They also learned to live independently due to stay away from his family.
At the time of graduation announcement, the schools cooperated with police who were alerted, namely ‘One School Two Police (SSDP)’ to prevent a convoy of students who often sparked clashes in the street. The schools also persuaded parents to not allow the convoy when students celebrated graduation.
In carrying out the raid of the students, the Department of Order became the coordinator in collaboration with the Department of Education, City Government public relations and the Police to perform operations during working hours. Regular operations are carried out in the truancy spots and hangout places such as malls, cafes, stalls, the area around the stadium, and others. If the student is caught in a raid having vandalism, then he will be handed over to the Vice Principal of his school. The schoool will let the parents know. Furthermore, he or she will get persuasive guidance and get points as the sanction.
Things cannot be avoided are the issues of students who don’t get class promotion and and or transfer students. There are a number of schools where vulnerable students are not promoted and they are transferred to another school. There are a number of schools that often become the destinations of students for those who are transferred. Usually this transfer student could potentially become the perpetrator of the brawl among students. Schools which receive a transfer student from the city have to meet the following requirements: a) there is a formation in the targeted schools, b) the targeted schools are willing to accept, and c) there is a recommendation from the Education Service. The reason for moving is also assessed whether the parents move for work, house moving, or because students have a case in the previous school.
In addition, policies regarding urban planning and spatial areas also need to be considered. The case of the student brawl often occurs in the area
around the stadium which is spacious and has a dim street lighting. In addition, Yogyakarta has a double title, namely: the city of education and the city of tourism. The titles have implications for the availability of entertainment venues in town and can be easily accessed by students who are under the required age. It probably leads the students to abuse alcohol and drugs and have free sex. There should be regulation in the form of a synergistic policy to make a conducive atmosphere for students to attend schools. In Yogyakarta, there is a regulation saying that visitors of internet cafe should not be wearing uniform.
It needs to be thought of regulations governing the policies so as not to clash with the policies of other agencies, in order to save the young generation from the violence. Regulatory mechanism for this has been notified by Mayor Regulation and Circular Letter of Head of Education Service. The rules and regulations of the schools basically have the same reference.
However, the schools can adjust the regulation to the conditions and needs of the schools. Regarding the graduation announcement, the Education Service has replaced the format, for example graduation ceremony, social events, and other useful activities.
Cooperation in preventing student violence has been carried out by the Education Service in cooperation with other agencies, such as:
Yogyakarta City Government, the Police, the Department of Public Order and cooperation with the community around the schools.
In addition, the point system is applied to prevent student misbehavior, including violence.
Education Office of Yogyakarta has been quite strict in cracking down on student fights. Through Yogyakarta Mayor Regulation No. 41/2011 on Guidelines for Drafting Rules for Schools, students who are proved to be involved in a fight (involved brawl) get 100 points. In fact, if the student has reached 100 points or more, then the hefty sanction is dropped out from the school. Although many students who have been expelled, fights among students still occurr. In addition, the school only has the authority to provide guidance during hours of lessons. Meanwhile, the fight often happens outside school hours. Head of Yogyakarta Education Service supports police efforts to consider the fight as a crime and will get legal proceedings.
4. Final Remarks
In preventing student violence, Education Service of Yogyakarta city has developed relational strategies to establish cooperation with other parties, with the levels of strategy that include:
individual, relational, community, and societal.
Relations which are developed in the context of cooperation among schools are in the forms of the involvement of suervisors who assist students’