–in the battle against domestic violence

EXAMINING the pictorial that accompanies News Source’s captioned story, “Education Ministry probing school-yard fight between male and female student of Richard Ishmael Secondary School” of November 28, 2019, should convey disturbing scenarios.

Though one will agree that school-yard fights are traditional, particularly male on male, or female on female, as in some cases, this clash is one that engaged a male and female and shows the male in the process of delivering the kind of physical punch one would on a male without due consideration that it is directed towards a female. From all appearances, he seemed to have been having the upper hand in this revealing exchange.

Yes, it is absolutely disturbing that his fellow male students could be seen casually standing against a section of the school building, as if watching a video game, unmindful that their male colleague, from all appearances, is bringing to bear his masculine strength on a female student as he aims a punch.

We stand to be corrected by making the observation that it would seem that one of the two student onlookers has a cell-phone and is more interested in recording another scene for viral purposes, rather than joining with other fellow student for separating the two clashing students.

These students are indeed very young, however, one is certain that they should be aware that it would have been morally correct and thoroughly decent as young male teens for them to have made an effort to separate their two fellow students, especially in the case of a female being involved, rather than milking the satisfaction from the combat, as seemingly represented in the viral video.

One wonders what are these young men’s perception of the opposite sex, and their understanding of the relationship between the two, and the general role and position of women, who must be accorded the respect and protection of the male counterpart, rather than being beaten/chastised/and made to know her place/submit to mighty man, as many of these young men seem to believe from the very bad examples around them. Are we looking at a video of unsympathetic and indifferent males when females are at the receiving end of male physical assault? These are questions which are equally applicable to the male involved in the fight.

It is ironic that such an incident is publicly highlighted a few days after the observance of International Day For the Elimination of violence against women, which heralds the commencement of 16 days of Activism, a period during which the spotlight is focused
again on the scourge of violence against women, inclusive of young girls. It is a social issue that continues to bedevil our society, and many others, and which must always be in the public domain because of its incidents and prevalence and the brutal violence that it entails, with often tragic endings.

Notwithstanding as to what may have been the circumstances that led to the two students involved in such an unfortunate exchange, it should inform us that fathers must also educate their sons on the critical social issue of domestic issue of domestic violence, since such a habit commences in the home; that young male teens must be included in audiences that have been convened for the purpose of domestic violence awareness programmes, with the theme broadened for an uncomplicated explanation of this social epidemic; and that domestic violence as a social ill, need to become a part of every school’s curriculum.