Climate control

TIME HAS changed so do the social issues that confront us. Problems arising among the youth are at an alarming state.

Carl (not his real name), a junior student of Baguio City National High School, was on his way home after his class when he was suddenly hit in the head by a young man he didn’t know. The next day, passing by the same route, he was beaten alternately by the same man and his group.

Carl’s case is just one of the many incidents of harassment and physical assaults encountered by students outside the campus. Students are attacked irrespective of their economic background.

Violence such as this shows how horrible some people are these days. It enforces the notion these are perilous times we live in. Going to school has almost become the equivalent of going to battle. Violence committed violates the dignity, well-being and safety of others besides affecting the country’s development.

Poverty, substance abuse, and unstable home life are three major root causes of violence among our youth nowadays. Urban places are more vulnerable to violent crime victimization. This puts a need for schools and the community as a whole to take steps to create a more positive environment for students and for children in general.

In Baguio City National High School, efforts are on track to know about the phenomenon of youth violence and how to recognize, mitigate, and prevent it. The school is taking proactive steps to avoid a violent incident by understanding the problems in the student’s life that are driving him or her to act out in school.

Currently, Baguio City National High School implements classroom-based, school-wide violence prevention programs so that teachers and students learn effective strategies in solving problems carefully. In addition, daily lessons are linked to life and needs of students. Teachers create expectations of success for all students as well as build on their strengths in order to promote academic engagement.

One of the preventative and reinforcement policies of the school is strengthening the National Drug Education Program through the Barkadahan Kontra Droga movement. Through the leadership of its school principal Dr. Elma D. Donaal, the school intensifies its program on Anti-Drug Abuse through its School Anti-Drug Abuse Council (SADAC). The movement strives to disseminate information on the perils of drug abuse through symposia and promote life skills through cooperative learning by involving students in worthwhile activities, thus helping empower students and deter them from taking drugs.

For students found to have been using drugs, the SADAC works with proper authorities like the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for additional tools, resources and expertise to redirect student to an alternative task and deploy corrective actions. Furthermore, youth violence prevention resources are laid out to respond to warning signs, defuse tense situations, encourage tighter security and ensure climate control.

Baguio City NHS holds onto the assertion that any threat aimed at anyone is serious business. The school is serious about preventing threats from being carried out against its students hence; it is taking extra steps to implement the school safety plan in coordination with various local agencies for more effective program implementation.

The significant decrease in student discipline referrals is a testament to the success of inter-agency collaboration and the commitment with which the school attaches to the mission of a drug-free and child-friendly campus. Kudos and more power.