Taking Brass Knuckles and Knife to School in Afghanistan
Written by: Mir Aqa Atabar
Some students take cold weapons to school which causes serious problems to school’s administration, students and their parents. AEPO’s writer/producer has talked to some students, their parents and some teachers in different parts of Afghanistan.
A student, Idris says: “one-day I was taking pictures in school. Two other students came and asked me to take their pictures too but I denied. They quarreled me and one of them attacked me with brass knuckles. I was not able to come to school for five days.”
Mohammad Ibrahim, a resident of Balkh district of Balkh province says: “ when I was a sixth-grade student, at the beginning, I was taking a slingshot to school with me but later I replaced it with brass knuckles. I have beaten other students with brass knuckles and others have beaten me with a knife.”
Why some students take cold weapons to schools?
A boy says that parental neglect and of cultural backwardness make parents be unaware of their children.
A man says: “we give toy-weapons to our kids for playing. When they get younger, they like to take real cold weapons with themselves.”
Some people have found a solution to this problem.
Assadullah Kohistani, the principal of Ghulam Haidar Khan High school in Kabul city says: “anyone who enters the school, we search him and take weapons from them and we share the issue with his parents.”
Rafat Rabani, the principal of the Saidal Naseri high school says: “we search every student and other customers before entering the school and take any kind of cold weapons and firearms. If a student has any kind of weapons, we ask their parents to school and share the issue with them.”
Tamana, a resident of Jalalabad city, Nangarhar province says: “I have three nephews and all of them are students. I and their parents know their school's friends and sometimes we ask their classmates and teachers about the attitude of my nephews in the school.”
If families and school administrations aware the students about the dangers of taking cold weapons to schools, and the benefits of the study, they would never take weapons to school.