School bullying shocks the nation

Video viral, inquiry under way

Lahore: Pakistanis were shocked when, a video from a private high-end school, by the name of Scarsdale International School (SIS), Lahore, where girls could be seen bullying a fellow student went viral. The school caters to children from affluent families. The video showed how the student, Alena Imran was beaten and tortured by Jannat Malik, Kainat Malik, Umaima Qaiser, and Noor Rehman, they were her classmates.

As per the details, the incident took place on January 16 and the video went viral on social media on January 19. The father of the victim, Imran Younus lodged an FIR of the incident in Defence Police Station on January 20. After the FIR, an inquiry committee was established on January 21 comprising of DO Elementary Schools Female, Deputy DO Cantt and Deputy DO Model Town.

A member of the inquiry committee, told Bol News that the committee has recommended cancellation of the school’s registration and a fine of Rs 600,000 for misconduct in the matter pertaining to school management.

“We have also recommended to expel all the students involved in this incident,” one of the members said, adding that the inquiry report has been submitted to Deputy Commissioner Lahore, Muhammad Ali who will decide the fate of the school.

An eyewitness to the incident, a student of the school, said that the incident took place in the cafeteria of the institution after the students had shared pictures of the student party with their friends’ parents.

One of their classmates said that, “Aleha and Kainat are very close friends and have been studying together since Kindergarten.”

“Actually both of them shared videos of drug use with each other’s father and those videos were captured outside the school at a private party which made Jannat and Kainat furious,” she said.

“In retaliation both sisters along with Noor and other friends grabbed Aleha under the stairs near the cafeteria where there were no CCTV cameras. They not only tortured her brutally, but also abused her for around 40 minutes,” she recalled.

She, however, negated any drug racket, as claimed by Aleha’s father in the FIR.

The inquiry officer also confirmed to this scribe that the incident took place in the cafeteria. “We have also mentioned in the inquiry report that there were no CCTV cameras installed at the entrance of the cafeteria which has ultimately led to this incident and lack of discipline was also found,” an inquiry committee member maintained.

COO Education Lahore has submitted the inquiry report to the Deputy Commissioner Lahore who will decide about the fate of the students and the institution.

Another member of the inquiry committee told Bol News that it is likely that the school will be able to get relief just in the shape of a fine of Rs 600,000 or suspension for a month or so. “It is less likely that the license of the school will be canceled because it is beyond the powers of the inquiry committee and DC Lahore,” he said.

He maintained that the school will also be able to get the relief because of ‘influential connections of the owner’.

“This inquiry report is made and some punishment would also be given to brush this issue under the carpet, as it has become a high profile case after the video went viral,” a senior official privy to this development said.

The school administration had issued a public statement on social media, condemning the incident and also expelled the five students and fired the principal and canteen employees.

Speaking about this horrifying incident, Fariha Rashed, a concerned citizen, told Bol News that the recent episode of bullying at a private Lahore school lends an insight into the very rampant bullying culture prevalent at educational institutes. The issue needs to be acknowledged and addressed.

“Campaigns against bullying need to be run across all schools, colleges and universities in Pakistan. We need to try and understand the reason behind bullying, what motivates a bully to behave the way they do, and find solutions to the matter,” Fariha said.

For her, victims are left with lifelong trauma. Therapists need to be available at all educational institutes to ensure that youngsters have professionals to speak to.  This will help to promote mental health amongst students.  Fariha recommended a clear ‘no bullying’ policy with consequences, that needs to be adopted at all educational institutions.

“Teachers should encourage students to report any such incidents with confidence,” she concluded.

Agreeing with her, Fizza Jamal, a former broadcast journalist, said that she cannot imagine how spoilt this generation is, and how it will perform in practical life.

“I’m honestly afraid to be managing them at a workplace because they seem so insecure, immature, and petty,” she said.

Fizza asked, ”will they be even capable of functioning as responsible adults without their parents shielding them from consequences of their own bad behavior?”

Agreeing with them, Haania Ali, an educationist, said that a school should be the safest place for kids.

“When we send them every morning, we never imagine the school to be so negligible that a bunch of bullies can hold them inside or outside the school premises and physically, mentally or emotionally bruise them for life,” she said.

Haania maintains that the school must take strict action or face legal obligations. “What sort of language are these so-called private school elite kids using? Says a lot about what is being prioritised and taught at such institutes that cost an arm and leg in terms of monthly fees,” she concluded.

Sarah Gandapur, an acclaimed activist said that “this bullying incident just goes to prove that the level of parenting in Pakistan has certainly gone down.”

“Such parents who raised these girls and boys seem to be completely oblivious to what is going on in the lives of their own children,” Sarah said.

She asked who were their friends, and why do youngsters have such expensive phones? What in the world is the school admission doing?

For Sarah, their (administration’s) only concern is to make big money at the expense of young minds. If they catch students misbehaving and report to the parents, the parents tell off the school administration that they should just stick to schooling. What is this ridiculous behaviour?

“This is just one of the many incidents that go on in our private schools, this got viral so caught everyone’s attention,” she noted.

She stated that it’s an unspoken truth, a kind of an open secret that drugs and alcohol are being dealt in schools openly and the school administration, has to look the other way because they don’t want to lose the lucrative students and parents don’t want to take responsibility of their own childrens’ ‘tarbiyat’ (upbringing).

Sarah believes that it’s truly a sad state of affairs but a kind of a blessing in disguise that “now this may prove to be the wake-up call for the parents. The school administration needs to be more strict; if a student doesn’t abide by the rules, then expel them full stop.”

She pointed out that the courts yet again failed to deliver justice, and released the juveniles who should have clearly been convicted and sent to juvenile jail as there is more than enough video evidence to convict the 5 involved students, including the teacher and the canteen man present at the crime scene.

“Being a High Court Justice’s daughter, I know full well how the law works. As a journalist I will challenge this petition and follow up on it,” she said.

The writer is a journalist based in Lahore who reports on Politics, Economy and Militancy. He can be reached on Twitter @HassanNaqvi5.