Samoa brawl school closed amid calls for corporal punishment

Transcript

Another incident of school students brawling in Samoa has some in the country calling for a return to corporal punishment.

In March, a series of fights involving pupils from Avele and Saint Joseph Colleges and the Don Bosco vocational training school left a teacher in hospital when he was hit by a rock in the forehead.

Now the government has closed Avele College after a fight last Friday morning, which ended with police taking in around 30 students for questioning.

Alex Perrottet reports.

The police commissioner of Samoa, Egon Keil says some of the students were charged for their role in the fights, and some of those questioned are as young as 15 years old. He says the courts will determine guilt and punishments but the police have a zero tolerance approach, and that includes misbehaviour online.

EGON KEIL: Before the police have been taking a real calm warning sort of approach to it but at this point here where it has escalated to the levels, it's beyond comprehension here in Samoa considering our culture and our tradition and our family values so we're taking a little bit of a stronger approach to this issue.

Our correspondent in Samoa, Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia, says the government needs to crack down on the problem, and shutting down the school is a good start.

AUTAGAVAIA TIPI AUTAGAVAIA: The students are still making these brawls in town, so I, as a parent, I think it's about time now for the Government to make an action in order to put this to a stop, you know, no more school brawls in town.

Samoa's Education Minister Loau Keneti Sio says there was a cabinet meeting on Wednesday at which the issue was discussed and they hope to reopen Avele College next week.

But Autagavaia says it needs to go a step further and students would toe the line if they still had the fear of corporal punishment looming over them.

AUTAGAVAIA TIPI AUTAGAVAIA: We had that stick from the teachers and even if you come home and report it to your parents they just don't pay attention, they say 'oh well now you're learning your mistake at school so don't do it again'. But these days, you know, the attitude of people and the approach of people to these things is very very different.

The Minister, Loau Keneti Sio, says all options are on the table, but he hopes the government does not have to resort to reintroducing corporal punishment. Egon Keil says he too wouldn't rule it out but currently it's against the law and the police are not going to be promoting something illegal.

EGON KEIL: We're moving away from corporal punishment, but it seems like it's the talk again, it's an issue that has been brought up again and that's beyond me, that's for our leaders to decide where they want to take this, but it probably needs to be re-looked at. We're not advocating any corporal punishment but we'll go in any direction that our leaders decide on.

Egon Keil says social media isn't the problem, but students need better guidance on how to use it, and they won't fail to punish those who organise or provoke violence online.