JEDDAH, 28 May 2007 — A preliminarily court yesterday sentenced a 24-year-old man to 12 days in jail and 20 lashes, and handed him a SR23,000 fine for assaulting the principal of the school that his younger brother attends.

Judge Abdul Aziz Al-Shithry handed the sentence to A. Al-Subaei for assaulting school principal Hussain Al-Ansari earlier this year. Al-Subaei was subsequently lashed in the Yasir ibn Amir Elementary School playground in front of teachers and students.

According to Al-Ansari, Al-Subaei had gone to the school to complain that his second grade brother was being bullied. After that he tried going to his brother’s class, when Al-Ansari tried to stop him. Al-Subaei subsequently attacked him. The principal refused to provide Al-Subaei’s contact details to Arab News.

“He was lashed yesterday and I had forgiven him,” said Al-Ansari. “The sentence was carried out following a reconciliation meeting with the judge and Al-Subaei’s guardians,” he said.

When asked why the lashes were given when he had forgiven him, Al-Ansari replied, “I forgave him by having the jail sentence dropped and reducing the fine.”

According to a local newspaper, Al-Subaei had gone to the school to complain that his brother was being bullied. He met Al-Ansari and asked to speak to the school counselor, who is responsible for such matters. The principal refused his request, which led to the fight. Teachers and staff at the school had to intervene and the authorities were called.

Abdullah Al-Thagafi, director of Boys Education in the Makkah region, told Al-Watan daily that the sentence had reinstated Al-Ansari’s dignity. Al-Subaei was a former student at the school.

During the reconciliation meeting, Al-Ansari agreed to reduce the jail sentence and the fine on condition that he was allowed to carry out the lashings himself.

In response to the increasing numbers of assaults on staff at the Kingdom’s schools, the Ministry of Education is planning to alter pupil behavior rules at schools, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported. The number of incidents involving students attacking teachers has increased across the Kingdom lately. In Hail, a preliminary court recently sentenced a group of students to eight months in jail and 500 lashes after they attacked a teacher.

School Vice Principal Faeq Awan, 44, said that the problems are generally associated with high school students. “School regulations concerning bad behavior dictate that in such cases a student either faces grade deductions, suspension or expulsion unless there is intervention by the Ministry of Interior or a court.”

Psychologist Dr. Samer Arar said that there are many reasons behind students assaulting teachers. “Sometimes, students have a tendency to behave violently. They try to impose their authority by physically attacking teachers,” said Arar. “In other cases, teachers try to dominate students. If the student is already under pressure and a teacher oppresses him, then he reacts violently to defend himself.”

Abdul Aziz Fahd, a 45-year-old parent teacher, believes that teachers and school environments are also to blame and contribute to teenage violence in schools. “It’s a teacher’s responsibility to be able to command respect. Our teachers are not trained to teach, let alone deal with students,” he said. “In my profession I have seen colleagues behave in a way that provokes teenage students. It’s scary but not surprising that this is happening.”

A father of an elementary student attending a public school expressed his concern about the idea of his son witnessing a lashing. “The bullying wasn’t dealt with, a principal was punched and a student’s brother was whipped. What type of education are we giving our children? What sort of message was given to the students bullying Al-Subaei’s little brother?”