POSITION PAPER 3

NOR HANANI BINTI AHMAD TAJUDIN 0727412

TOPIC : “Violence in the school is a result of differences outside school. We as counselors cannot do anything about it. Discuss…”

First of all before we go further about this topic, I want to share with you about the definition of the term ‘violence’ from my pesonal point of view without reffering to any dictionaries. But, before that I pursue my oppology if my definition does not fit with your opponion. From my view, violence means any bad or dangerous words or actions that can bring difficulties or harms to ouselves or others. For me, violence of words reffer to words that we say or talk including harsh words, ‘kata-kata cercaan, makian, hinaan’ whereby these words can cause emotional violence. While violence of actions reffer to any any of our behaviors, activities that violate or break the rules or laws. For instance, vandelism, bullying, ‘ragut’, gangsterism, wall painting and much more that all of those actions bring harm and dangerous others.
This violence does not commited by adult people who haad graduated from school many years back but also by our children who are still schools students. So, for me, it is a responsible for schools to engage in helping our beloved young people as they are the next generation who will our leader in the future.
Is it true, we as school counselors cannot do anything? That is the main question. For me, this does not mean that counselors can’t do anything at all as we surely can contribute something to change thins to the better. We can collaborate with the dicipline’s teacher, all of the teacher, the staffs along with the parents and community. As counselors, we can start from the root. Trace them who are involving in such cases. Once we got the list, do not call them for a counseliing meeting immadiately. For me, we have to check why did they commit into that case, what causes or makes them involved, what factors or who influences them to do such things, who are the people behind them and so much more. This is because we just cannot putting the blame onto their shoulders alone or just judging them as a bad person at the first blink. Who knows there are something wrong connected behind them. It is important for the counselors to study the background of the particular students. How is he or she in their family, does the family having problems and so on. This is because, I believe, everything happenned have reasons behind that. Counselors have to go outreach ‘turun padang’ to the students place, get to know them and their families.
Back to the topic, it is a result from the outside differences, what is that mean?. Outside differences reffer to the students who are vary among them in term of differences in the family environment, communities, races, how they are tretaed or accepted by the environments. Racial or multi-cultural become the hot issue in this subject since it is Cross-Cultural Counseling. We are thought not to stereotyping or judging people, our students based on their cultural or racial background. For instance, as we are exposed with the familiarities that Indian are normally aggressive or Chinese are used to known with their ‘Ah-Long’ or ‘Kongsi Gelap’, the gansterism club, so we stereotyping all of them are the same. As I said earlier, we have to get to know them fisrt before making any judgmental. But of course, we have to know how to approach them. I mean those who are in difference cultural or racial with us or me as a Malay. We have to know the best way to make ourselves acceptable in their environments.
Of course, I do admit that it is not an easy task for us to enter their community as it is also have obstacles in approaching our own community, Malay, as we are going to discuss with them about their child who are involved in bad behaviors. We bring to them a bad news regarding their child. But, there are always the first step in everything. Get started with the outreach and we will find it easier the next we do it again. After we get to know the particular students, it is time for us to call them for counseling session or meeting. It is depending on how we want to do it either by an individual counseling or a group counseling. We have to make them comfortable with us as they are normally labelled as bad category of students and they also kind of students who keep avoiding anything connected with the counseling. We have to know the best way to attract their attention to give good cooperation along the counseling process. We can also organizing counseling program such as ‘Anti-Violence Program’ and many others whereby can attracting many participations whether the target group or the potential goup of students. Yet, of course, there are limitations in doing such tasks. For instance, hard to communicate with them as they tend to remain silent or refuse to participate and giving well cooperations with us. But, have to remember and bear in mind that, one of the characteristics of a good counselor is ‘patient’. We have to be very patient and sincere in doing our responsibilities.
For the conclusion, it is hard and difficult for us as school couselors in facing such of this issue. As we already know, there are many cases involving our students nowadays. They are getting more advance in doing or creating new bad behaviors and sorry to say creating crimes. We are expossing with news that our students commiting this and that. Who says that we cannot do anything about this. Yes, of course we can do something or many other things, just want or don’t want to. Besides that we are weak if we go alone. We need support and cooperations from others such as the principal, teachers, staffs, government ministries or Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), parents, and last but not least the communities. I believe, together we can make the difference. Insyaallah….