The one place we felt safe, apart from home, was school. As soon as we entered the gates and the assembly bell rang, the main entrance was secured.
The thought of coming under attack was never a possibility and did not even cross our minds. We might have been afraid of some teachers or the principal or headmistress, but that was the extent of our fears.
A pupil coming armed to school and with the intention of inflicting injury or, even worse, death, has now become quite commonplace. Some of these have been shot dead by security officers after going on a rampage, while others have escaped, only to commit suicide later.
It is obvious that these are deeply troubled youngsters, with one of them even being described by peers or adults as a quiet child, never exhibiting any signs of the violent nature bottled-up inside and unleashed on unsuspecting school mates and staff.
Their reasons range from a feeling of estrangement or extreme resentment to the inability to differentiate between right and wrong.
After every such horrific incident, the questions on everyone’s lips are ‘what could have been done to prevent this tragedy? Should we have seen this coming? Was the pupil in counselling?’ There really aren’t any satisfactory answers or guarantees that this won’t be played out again in another institution in another state.
I believe that we turn a blind eye to so many disturbing issues and make excuses for inappropriate behaviour by blaming it on trauma inflicted in childhood, on too much or too little parental control and on the influence of external factors.
Rarely is the individual in question taken to task. It is as if he or she was driven to the point of no control. Everyone is a victim, no one sees himself or herself as the aggressor.
When we were young, our emotions were pretty powerful too. We said we hated that person and even wished some of them dead. But those were passing feelings that went away with time. They weren’t allowed to fester and turn us into potential killers. We never carried through with the dire threats we might have uttered in the heat of the moment. There was always a line we knew we couldn’t cross.
So, how are things different now? Is there too much analysis and too little accountability? Are children made to believe that there is always a justification for every action? What happened to parents laying down the rules firmly and seeing to it that children don’t disobey these with impunity? Can this shift in attitude be attributed to the conviction that life then was very different from what it is today?
What I am sure of is that some decades ago, when we were growing up, the moral standards for actions were very strict. We were not allowed to criticise teachers at home and parents’ actions were never fought against.
It wasn’t that we were angels, but even if we felt resentment at what we considered injustice, something held us back from open defiance or refusal to toe the line. We might have chafed at the bit, but we always knew that we were not going to be allowed free rein.
In light of this, it is painful to read about people making money out of inventions that help secure schools, with sales of bulletproof white boards and classroom locks booming as incidents of random gun attacks continue with alarming regularity. There has even been talk about arming teachers.
That would be the final nail in the coffin. Imagine going to a school where you are frisked on entry and your teachers are ready to shoot at the first signs of any unusual activity.
The very purpose of such institutions — which are supposedly safe havens for children, places where lives are shaped — will be defeated if all these things do come to pass.
