Why children in schools take to physical violence

What made a 12-year-old strangle his classmate over a minor incident in New Delhi? In another city, a class monitor, in his enthusiasm to maintain discipline in the classroom, kicked a student in the groin who succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital.

- Ameeta Mulla Wattal

A child was bludgeoned by his schoolmate following a minor fight. Two students killed several classmates and a teacher in another part of the world.

Children involved in these incidents may be geographically far apart, yet the desire for violence among them seems identical and alarmingly on the rise. From no-holds-barred movie and book scenes to acts of violence viral on social media, from aggressive role models to facing aggression at home, schools, or the playground, there are many factors through which society has normalized violence. We have helped desensitize our young to the pain of others and the fallout of conflict occurring around them.

Was brutality a part of the childhood of the perpetrators of violence? These acts and more throw a spotlight on fragmented family structures and the lack of educational institutions' investment in the well-being of their students.

Today, social integration, mental health and emotional well-being have to be integral to schooling, but, for too many boys and girls, school is where they experience violence, bullying, harassment, verbal abuse, and sometimes exploitation, at the hands of peers or teachers or even the inscrutable school authority. Every child has the right to go to school free from fear. In the best circumstances, schools should put children on the path to a promising future.