School Violence and Social and Legal Indiscipline in Cuba

School Violence and Social and Legal Indiscipline in Cuba / Dayanara
Vega, Cuban Law Association
Posted on July 10, 2014
By Dayanara Vega

School violence is considered an intentional act or omission that is
hurtful and practiced among members of the educational community
(students, professors, parents, entry-level employees) and that is done
within the physical space of school facilities and other spaces directly
related to the school (areas surrounding the school or places where
extracurricular acitivies are carried out).

An extreme and characteristic form of school violence present among
students is school bullying.

Scientific studies mark the following as principal risk factors that
give rise to school violence in the lives of members of the educational
community:

- Social exclusion or the feeling of being excluded

- The absence of boundaries for proper social behavior

- The constant exposure to violence reflected in social media, which in
Cuba is observed in TV serials and certain novels that superficially
touch on the theme.

- The integration into gangs that use violence as a form of ordinary
behavior.

- The justification of violence in society or in the social atmosphere
to which that person belongs.

- Family problems such as violence (divorce, domestic violence)

School bullying can become physical.

School assault (also known as school harassment or by the English term,
"bullying") is any form of psychological, verbal, or physical
mistreatment repeatedly practiced among members of the school for a
certain amount of time.

Statistically, the dominant form of violence is emotional and is mainly
in the class and the courtyard of the school. The protagonists tend to
be boys and girls on the verge of entering adolescence (12-13 years),
with a slightly higher percentage of girls being the victims.

School bullying is a type of torture, methodical and systematic, in
which the agressor abuses the victim often with silence, indifference,
or with the complicity of other schoolmates.

This kind of violence is characterized by a repetition that aims to
intimidate the victim, implicating an abuse of power exercised by a more
powerful aggresor (the strength may be real or perceived). The
mistreated subject is left physically and emotionally exposed before his
aggresor, generating a series of psychological consequences (although
these do not form part of the diagnosis); it is common for the victim to
be afraid to attend school and to demonstrate nervousness, sadness, or
loneliness in his or her daily life. In some cases, the difficulty of
the situation can give rise to suicidal thoughts and their
materialization, as consequences of harassment.

In our country we customarily blame external sources for social
indiscipline and do not look within ourselves to see how we have lost
values that are at the core of the family; the fundamental unit of society.

The state does not take responsibility since the Geneva Convention
exists to protect youth and adolescents and Cuba forms a part of it yet
does not enact real judicial actions whose aim is to put the brakes on
this social evil.

Translated by: Bianca Martinez

7 July 2014

Source: School Violence and Social and Legal Indiscipline in Cuba /
Dayanara Vega, Cuban Law Association | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/school-violence-and-social-and-legal-indiscipline-in-cuba-dayanara-vega-cuban-law-association/