Two teenage girls commit suicide. A young man from school attacks his teacher with a firearm. Requisitions of backpacks that should carry books and notebooks, which end up evidencing the carrying of weapons in the classrooms. Increasingly frequent use of psychoactive substances. All this terrifying news is more frequent than you think and is happening in schools and colleges.
The time that should have the best memories is becoming a nightmare for many children and young people due to violence in the educational environment. The instructor who mistreats, the manager who harasses, the group of classmates who bulliesAlthough these are serious problems that affect students, they end up being small when compared to the permanent exposure to drug dealers, forced recruitment, and the like.
Millions of children and young people in the Latin American and Caribbean region are at risk of having to distance themselves from the academic world due to the student violence, which in the end is a death wound against the right to education.
Violence in the educational sector is a concern for UNESCO, which together with Colombia, will open a space to address this problem, which should be addressed as a priority by the governments of all nations.
Therefore, for 3 days this topic will be debated in which ministers from the education sector, regional organizations, experts and civil society will participate.
The meeting will take place in Bogotá, to define the action plan that allows progress towards the elimination of violence in educational environments.
In pursuit of identifying new forms of violence
Some studies mention that violence against students – in schools and colleges – has changed over the years and is increasingly focused on serious circumstances, such as cybersexual, patrimonial, economic and social violence. For this reason, at the UNESCO meeting in Colombia the end will be “identify tensions, challenges and lessons learned to protect the right to education from all forms of violence.”
The aftermath can be insurmountable.
According to UNESCO, two out of five sixth graders reported being victims of bullying, and at least one in eight suffered physical attacks. In this segment we are almost talking about children, taking into account that it is common for students to start secondary school at a very early age (11 or 12 years old).
Added to the situations experienced in the academic environment is the constant threat against children and young people who attend schools and colleges in the region. “Violence in the educational field is a problem that affects the lives of students in the region. This regional meeting represents an invaluable opportunity for countries to develop collaborative and evidence-based responses, taking advantage of the experience accumulated in our region,” said Esther Kuisch Laroche, director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Heading to the first world summit
The board added that in addition to protecting the right to education, with the application of solutions to violence in the educational environment, a very important task is being even more transcendental and is to prevent the enormous damage caused to society by having citizens affected by this phenomenon.
“Our commitment is fight for the integrity of our children and young people, added the UNESCO spokesperson.
Thus, the conclusions of the meeting, which will end with a proposed action plan, will serve to make visible the experiences, voices and positions of the educational sector in the First Global Ministerial Conference to End Violence against Children.
