T

he school principal of state senior high school SMA 3 in South Jakarta, Retno Listiyarti, was reported to the police for suspending six 12th-grade students who assaulted a 30-year-old alumnus, who was allegedly attempting to extort them.

Parents of the six students expressed their disappointment with the suspension and filed a police report with the Jakarta Police against Retno under Child Protection Law No. 35/2014 on discrimination against children. It carries a maximum sentence of five years.

The parents also filed a police report against the alumnus, identified as Erick, for child sexual harassment as stipulated in Article 76E of the child protection law.

Responding to the police report, Retno said that the school'€™s management was '€œready to take the responsibility for the suspension decision'€.

Retno said the six students were identified as PR, AE, EM, MR, PC and the girl who had allegedly been harassed by the man. They had been suspended for between one and two months for their involvement
in violence.

'€œThey beat up and injured a person,'€ Retno told reporters at SMA 3 in Setia Budi, South Jakarta, on Thursday.

One of the parents, who asked for anonymity, said the incident took place on Jan. 30 when Erick, an alumnus who claimed to be a police officer, allegedly stopped EM'€™s motorcycle near the school and requested he show him the vehicle license. EM, became suspicious after smelling alcohol on Erick, asked him to show his badge.

Afterward Erick saw EM'€™s friend, a girl, pass the location and groped her hand and cheek and threatened to hit them. EM and the girl called PC, PR, AE and MR. The boys later beat up Erick.

'€œLocal residents who witnessed the incident reported it to the school,'€ Retno said.

Retno said although the victim had not filed a lawsuit or complained to the school, she considered punishment must be taken as '€œan effort to educate the students about their social environment'€.

She said, despite the punishment, the students would still have the opportunity to participate in the school'€™s final examinations and the national examination.

Frans Paulus, one of the parents, said the students were protecting themselves and pointed out that the girl had been harassed by Erick.

'€œThe school suspended the students without issuing any prior warning. The parents should have been informed first,'€ Frans said, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

He said the parents had also visited the Jakarta Education Agency and asked the agency to mediate because they were concerned with the children'€™s preparation ahead of the national examination.

Contacted separately, renowned child psychologist Seto Mulyadi said imposing a punishment was not an effective way of handling violence in children and added that the school should have communicated with them in a softer manner.

'€œThe students are at an age where they need to channel their dynamic minds and creativity. That'€™s why they were violent, to show off this capacity,'€ Seto told The Jakarta Post.

SMA 3 also came to the spotlight in June 2014, when two 10th grade students died following an eight-day outing to the Tangkuban Perahu area of West Java, which was organized by the school'€™s mountaineering club.