Random Thoughts

Yesterday an old friend of mine visited me, we haven't seen each other since our graduation. He's teaching Math now in one of favourite senior high school in Kupang. We talked a lot, there were so many things to catch up with, he shared about the experience of being a senior high teacher, all the ups and downs and so on. I was just being a good listener because I haven't had any experience yet 😁
We talked a lot while drinking coffee, then he brought up a topic about how students nowadays being so disrespectful to the teachers, that was where our talking became serious. I was also bothered by the fact that these past few years the persecution of teachers has been gradually increasing.

The most recent case happened in Sampang Regency, Madura. Ahmad Budi Cahyanto (Read. AHC), a teacher of SMAN 1 Torjun was beaten to death by one of his student (MH) during the class. It started when MH was rebuked by AHC of disturbing his friends causing the class noisy, he also scratch MH's cheek using a brush as a punishment. Getting this kind of treatment, MH was going mad and beat AHC. The poor man collapsed and immediately brought to RSUD Dr Soetomo, he then passed away the following night.

This is just one of the so many dark cases dealing with our education, nowadays there are so many protections received by students and one of them is what we called human rights (HAM). These so-called rights have been disabling teachers to educate the students, and educating is not only about teaching but also about shaping a character so that educated students with good attitude come out as a result. Shaping a character is not an easy-peasy thing when you are dealing with dissident students, the hard ways are sometimes necessary to be taken. But by doing so, teachers can be sued and prisoned because the students are protected by the law particularly the rights, now this is a problematic situation. Students are protected but not the teachers, when something happens with the teachers there is not a single law they can hold on to. Take AHC's case as an example, the poor teacher died in his own student's hand but the student is a child meaning that the penal code will not be so effectively applied to punish him, and as we all know that in this country it also means that the case will likely be solved in a family manner which is outside the legal law.

In my opinion, there should be a law issued by the government to protect the teachers so that it doesn't seem like biased where the students are free to do whatever they want knowing that law is protecting them while the teachers are just able to standstill. This is a significant issue that needs to be considered seriously to make our education great because people with intelligence is good but people with attitude is great. This is just an opinion of mine, my apology if this a sassy writing. Cheers. WES