Documenting Assaults Makes School Violence More Prominent in Public Awareness

In this context, investigations are ongoing into two separate incidents: one involving a student's injury during a classroom brawl, and the other related to a complaint filed by a teacher following an assault incident. Security authorities have initiated investigative procedures to determine the circumstances of each incident, following official complaints and medical reports submitted by the concerned parties.

Educator Qaisar Al-Gharaibeh emphasizes that the school is supposed to be a safe environment where the educational and pedagogical process is practiced within a framework of values and legal regulations. However, the emergence of violent behaviors within it—whether targeting a student, teacher, or administrator—indicates a flaw in the educational environment that requires treatment beyond merely dealing with incidents after they occur.

In an interview with Al-Rai, Al-Gharaibeh states that school violence no longer takes a single form or moves in one direction; rather, it has become a multidirectional phenomenon where a student may be an aggressor or a victim, and a teacher or administrator may be subjected to provocation, insult, threats, or assault, making the protection of all parties in the educational process an integrated responsibility.

He believes that ignoring these behaviors or merely addressing each incident in isolation increases their danger, pointing out that violence sometimes begins with seemingly simple behaviors, such as insults and threats, before escalating into physical assault and, in some cases, reaching more dangerous levels.

Al-Gharaibeh attributes part of the exacerbation of this phenomenon to a crisis of values that is not limited to the school alone, but extends to society, the family, and various institutions influencing students' behavior, alongside the speed enabled by social media in filming and publishing incidents of violence and turning some manifestations of aggressive behavior into widespread content.

He points out that school violence is not a new phenomenon, but it has become more visible and widespread in the public awareness due to the media and social platforms, which have made documenting and publishing incidents easy. At the same time, he emphasizes that dealing with the phenomenon requires understanding its social, educational, and psychological causes, rather than merely managing its outcomes.

He stresses the necessity of building an integrated system to protect the school environment, starting with providing a clear legal and legislative framework that protects the teacher, student, and administrator, alongside promoting values education within schools and instilling concepts of respect, dialogue, acceptance of others, and behavioral control. He also calls on the Ministry of Education to transition from temporary solutions to long-term plans based on accurate studies and research into the causes, forms, and trends of violence, which will help develop more effective preventive and therapeutic programs, rather than settling for handling incidents after they occur.

Al-Gharaibeh affirms that curbing school violence cannot be the sole responsibility of the school; rather, it requires a partnership between the ministry, the family, and society, within an integrated educational and value-based approach aimed at restoring the school's primary role as a safe space for learning and character building, and protecting everyone within it from any form of violence.