Last night, after my class, I saw a student, first year high school at that, crying and she was being interviewed, cajoled and pepped on by her peers. I had the notion to stop and ask what the matter was when I heard her say "gisumbag ko sa tiyan" (punched on my tummy). A wee moment for me to learn that she was a victim of a campus gang that hates CAT (Citizen's Army Training) in general, and most of all, CAT officers and aspirants. She was then taken by a CAT officer and so her friends tagged along.. Being a CAT aspirant, she wanted to defend a certain CAT officer that the said gang wanted to harm. So last Friday, as her tortured state begun, a gang member asked her who they will punish, officer or aspirant. And because she answered aspirant, she was the one they knocked down. They saw her again last night, and so they hit her again. She said the gang declared that they will not stop hitting her as that was what she wanted. She was helpless and vulnerable as she walked alone on those two occasions. I didn't know what happened after that or what action the CAT officers of MOGCHS would do about that. I was a CAT officer myself when I was in high school, but we never had scenarios like that. I guess that is the biggest difference if you are studying at a private school that has a small community. MOGCHS is such a big community, people almost do not know each other here. Now I understand why during the time I was teaching at MOGCHS, all I witnessed are police patrol cars whenever there's some problem on campus, and why, during the junior's night, it was a must for police visibility at the venue, Xavier Sports and Country Club. At that time, what I had in mind was that, the kids were so pitiful with such loud cry of mistrust. I guess it's all for everyone's protection. The girl may have just been punched, but for how long? Sooner or later such action could get worse and perhaps the worst scenario would be, that someone could get killed. So sad that it should happen to a promising high school student..
Campus violence is what we usually hear about and see on television in countries where violence is rampant. It is also often depicted in prime-time shows abroad, which are also aired through Studio 23 if one does not have cable television. So what's the deal with those gang wars and campus politics? COMPETITION. Competition gone sour. I wonder how it could ever be resolved..
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