Our grief is first and foremost about the tragedy itself, but also about the circumstances that allowed the incident to occur.
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·3 minutes read
Kompas/ Agus Susanto
Around 38,000 teachers attend the Dec. 2, 2017 commemoration of National Teachers Day at the Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi, West Java.
We express our grief and deepest condolences on the death of teacher Ahmad Budi Cahyono, who was reportedly assaulted by one of his own students identified as MH.
Our grief is first and foremost about the tragedy itself, but also about the circumstances that allowed the incident to occur. It is too soon to interpret the incident in Sampang, East Java, as a reflection of declining respect of students for their teachers. Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that the incident is shocking and distressing.
We underline our request that the case be seriously investigated to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. On a larger scale, Ahmad’s tragic death should serve as momentum to improve our education system. Our question is, what is the use of good cognitive skills in a person with terrible behavior?
Many have expressed their opinions in the wake of this incident. Some say the incident might have been caused by imbalanced teacher-student relations. East Java education council head Akhmad Muzakki said that, nowadays, students – especially the children of local figures of authority – tend to have more power and believe they can do whatever they want to their teachers (Kompas, 3/2/2018).
If this is true, we are deeply concerned. This reaffirms the image that the stronger among us tend to abuse their power for personal gain. Secondly, many parents of high social status or rank in government administration fail to instill good moral values in their children.
This is despite our idealistic image that those of higher official rank or social status can serve as role models to be looked up to – not just for their families, but also for society.
We also read in this daily that the incident in Sampang reflected poor parenting. We have always encouraged parents to nurture their children’s moral integrity from an early age on. This is necessary to help the children differentiate right from wrong when they grow up.
Furthermore, quoting University of Indonesia education psychology lecturer Rose Mini, incomplete fostering of values can result in children of unpredictable character.
We can expand the discourse on teacher Ahmad’s death by, for instance, asking what values we must first nurture in our students. In the context of human development, especially in the era of widespread improper conduct that we live in right now, we believe that nurturing virtuous character in our future generation is crucial.
In discussions in social media, we often find posts about countries that are more concerned about children with bad character than children with bad grades. Surely, being smart is important. However, good character should always come first.
We hope that the tragedy of teacher Ahmad will not be forgotten easily. It is time for introspection on the part of education authorities nationwide. Educational and social psychologists must contribute their ideas to improving our education system.
