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SMA 3 pledges to stop long history of bullying

State senior high school SMA 3 Jakarta is promising to end a history of violence and bullying that has persisted for years among its students, the school’s new principal said on Wednesday

Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, February 12, 2015

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SMA 3 pledges to stop long history of bullying

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tate senior high school SMA 3 Jakarta is promising to end a history of violence and bullying that has persisted for years among its students, the school'€™s new principal said on Wednesday.

SMA 3 principal Retno Listyarti said after being put in charge of the school last month, she learned that a lot of senior students extorted money from their juniors and would not hesitate to attack them if they disobeyed.

'€œSome parents who wished to remain anonymous said that their children were choked and kicked by the seniors,'€ Retno told reporters at SMA 3 in Setiabudi in South Jakarta.

Retno has been known as a vocal teacher who promotes transparency and good governance in school. She was among the teachers who clinched a position as principal in the open-recruitment system introduced by the city administration last year.

She added that another parent also said that his child, a 10th grade student, was extorted by 12th grade students on a number of occasions and lost up to Rp 5 million (US$389).

Retno further said that she also received reports that if senior students held an annual arts event, each of the 10th grade classes was forced to give the seniors Rp 1 million every week as their '€œcontribution'€ toward the event.

'€œI cannot let this happen any more in this school. I don'€™t care if I will be reported to the police for doing my job,'€ Retno continued.

Recently, parents of six 12th grade students in SMA 3 filed a police report with the Jakarta Police against Retno as soon as the school principal suspended their children, five boys and one girl, for their involvement in an allegedly brutal assault against a 30-year-old alumnus identified as Erick.

The reported assault took place on Jan. 30 near the school when Erick, who the students said claimed to be a police officer, allegedly stopped one of the boys, EM, near the school and requested he showed him his motorcycle documents and driving license.

Afterwards, according to a parent, Erick saw EM'€™s friend, a girl, pass the location and he allegedly groped her hand and cheek and threatened to hit them. EM and the girl then called four friends, PC, PR, AE and MR. The boys later beat Erick up.

Retno said CCTV footage from a nearby boarding house had recorded an incident that she described as a '€œgraphic and horrible event'€. She said the CCTV footage showed around 20 students assaulting a man near the school and emphasized that she would suspend the rest as soon as she identified them.

Shortly after the suspension was issued, the parents of the six children filed a police report against Retno citing Child Protection Law No. 35/2014 on discrimination against children that carries a maximum five-year sentence.

Commenting on the police report, Retno said that it was a form of the parents'€™ arrogance that had become one of the causes of the violent behavior in the school.

'€œWhen I invited the parents to tell them that their children will be suspended for a brutal assault, they came with their lawyers and told me that I committed a human rights violation,'€ Retno said.

The school'€™s deputy principal, Yudi Hermunanto, said that the school had been trying to fix its image that became tarnished when two 10th graders were beaten to death by seniors and former students.

SMA 3 came under the spotlight in June 2014, when 10th grader Arfiand Caesary Al Ilhami died following an eight-day outing to the Tangkuban Perahu area of West Java, which was organized by the school'€™s mountaineering club. Two weeks later, Padian Prawiro Dirya, also died in hospital while being treated following his participation in the same event.

'€œThis suspension provides important momentum to repair the school'€™s credibility and enforce the regulations after the deaths of our students,'€ Yudi said.

The mountaineering club deaths implicated six 12th graders and three alumni. The court has declared them guilty of violating Article 359 of the Criminal Code, in conjunction with articles 55 and 64 for continuously and collectively neglecting the victim, which led to his death.

The Education Agency later dismissed the principal at that time, Ni Ketut Diah Chaerani, and her deputy for student affairs, La Ode Makbudu.

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