School Dropouts’ Sorrow in Cirebon

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Cirebon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Roland Ronaldy (front left) holds up two sickles that were confiscated from a brawl during a press conference at Cirebon Police headquarters in West Java on Jan. 6 (6/1/2020). Two people were killed during the incident, which took place in the early hours of Jan. 5 (5/1/2020).

Asmail Sevani’s hopes of returning to school were ended by a brawl. The 15-year-old was killed by other youths who had also dropped out of school. The brawl was triggered by interactions on social media, the “biological offspring” of the digital industry.

Jubaedah, 38, cried when she saw a portrait of her son Sevani at her home in Astana village, Gunung Jati district, Cirebon regency, West Java, on Monday (6/1/2020).

The body of the teenager with straight hair and thick eyebrows was wrapped in a white kafan (burial shroud). The wounds on his head and forehead were clues in the investigation into his death.

Jubaedah said that on Saturday (4/1) morning she had asked Seva – as she affectionately called her son – to visit the family home in Malang, East Java. However, ahead of purchasing the tickets, he declined and was later replaced by his older sibling.

At around 8 p.m., Seva picked up his father Sahroni, 40, at a gas station near his house. Sahroni had just arrived home from working odd jobs in Karawang, West Java.

An hour later, Seva said he was going out. “We just thought he was going to his grandfather’s house as it was quite cramped here. He asked for Rp 5,000 [37 US cents]. He never asked for much money. Perhaps he knew our financial situation,” Jubaedah said.

Unexpectedly, Seva, known for his reticence, became involved in a brawl on Jl. Angkasa Raya in Penggung on Monday (5/1) at 2:30 a.m. The brawl occurred around 1.5 kilometers from Cakrabhuwana Airport and 9 kilometers from his home.

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Suspects in a fatal brawl are lined up during a press briefing at the Cirebon Police headquarters in West Java on Jan. 6 (6/1/2020). Two people were killed during the incident, which took place in the early hours of Jan. 5 (5/1/2020).

The brawl, which involved around a dozen people, took the life of 22-year-old M. Anenta Bentar, a resident of Purwawinangun village, Suranenggala district, alongside Seva. They were rushed to the hospital but did not make it.

Anenta was stabbed on the right side of his back. Seva was hit by a rock on his head.

“Seva had never been involved in brawls before. He planned to take the Package B equivalency exam to enroll in a vocational high school. He loved to work on motorcycles,” Jubaedah said.

School dropout

Seva went to school as far as eighth grade. “He dropped out of school because of his circle of friends. His older sibling also dropped out and now works odd jobs,” Jubedah said.

She said her attention was often divided between taking care of her six children, including one in elementary school and another just eight months old. School fees are often burdensome. She often sells popsicles to be able to give her children an allowance.

In less than 24 hours after the brawl, Cirebon Police personnel arrested seven suspects. Six were residents of Penggung in Harjamukti village: DH, 18; S, 16; MFS, 16; MTR, 20; IS, 15; and AP, 16. Another suspect, MF, 16, was a resident of Pamengkang village in Mundu district, Cirebon regency. Of the seven suspects, only DH and AP were still in school.

“I just threw stones. We did not drink [alcohol] before the brawl,” said MTR, who earned money as a parking attendant, while wiping away the tears with his cuffed hands. His last education was in vocational high school.

MFS’s father Surip, 45, said the incident hit him hard. “My son has been involved in brawls before but he had never killed anybody. He dropped out of school after I was fired,” said that former soap factory worker.

Currently, the father of three is between jobs as a construction worker. In one day, Surip can earn around Rp 100,000. He was so frustrated with his job search that he wrote “Available, Out of Work” in his WhatsApp profile.

Seva and MFS are just two of countless minors in Cirebon who have dropped out of school in this digital era. In 2018, the West Java Statistics Agency cited that the average years spent in school in Cirebon was 9.89 years. This means that the city’s residents aged 25 years and above, on average, only graduate from junior high school. Meanwhile, Cirebon regency’s average is 6.62 years, lower than West Java’s 8.15 years.

Digital industry

As the government campaigns for reliable millennials in this era of Industry 4.0, teenagers in Cirebon are still having difficulty accessing education. Social media is exacerbating the situation.

The brawl that killed Seva, for instance, began in taunts on Instagram. “One of the gangs sent the message “Q”, which means challenging another gang to a brawl. This other gang replied with a similar message, which means that they accepted the challenge,” Cirebon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Roland Ronaldy said.

Roland denied that the police failed to anticipate brawls. “Thanks to our cyber patrol, we can arrest the suspects quickly,” he said.

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Jubaedah, 38, shows a photo of her son Asmail Sevani, 15, who was killed in a brawl, at her house in Astana, Gunung Jati district, Cirebon regency, West Java, on Jan. 6 (6/1/2020). Two people were killed during the incident, which took place in the early hours of Jan. 5 (5/1/2020).

Based on their cyber patrol on social media, the police identified three brawl-prone gangs in Cirebon. The police pledges to call upon these gangs to anticipate future brawls. However, he said the local government, parents and schools also had big roles to play in preventing brawls.

Wangsakerta Nature School founder Farida Mahri said the high prevalence of brawls was correlated with the quality of the education system. “[The teenagers] are seemingly bored and aimless. They need space to express themselves and be heard, instead of being blamed by adults,” said Farida, who works with school dropouts in Cirebon.

Cirebon history enthusiast Mustaqim Asteja said Sunan Gunung Jati, Cirebon’s leader in the 15th century, was focused on education. This was reflected in his message “Ingsun titip tajug lan fakir miskin” (“Take care of mosques and the poor for me”).

That request remains unfulfilled, even today.