RIYADH, 29 December 2005 — Many Saudi schools turn into wrestling arenas between students and their teachers, Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News, reported.
Video clips have emerged online, made and posted by students using their digital gadgets, showing classrooms that have turned into brawling salons with students beating teachers and vice versa.
There were four incidents in the past few months in which teachers were beating up students and students videotaping attacks against their teachers inside classrooms. The attacks were verbal and physical and in some cases took teachers and students to the emergency room. Education officials say that in some schools, the lack of corporal punishment is giving some students the hubris to challenge their teachers.
One of the most famous cases of school beatings recently is what happened to a teacher in Riyadh as he exited the school. A student with an unidentified metal object in hand assaulted the teacher. He continued to beat the educator until he fell unconscious and had to be treated at a local hospital.
Even school principals have come under attack by students. In Al-Hair High School in Riyadh, one school principal was attacked from behind with a blunt metal object. The school principal suffered from fractures in the head and is still receiving treatment.
In another case, a teacher was attacked for making comments about a student’s long hair. He continued to tell the student that he must obey school laws and regulations. The student took matters into his own hands and attacked the teacher.
One teacher was quoted in the local media as saying that his profession should fall under the most dangerous professions in the country. Teachers have blamed the Education Ministry for a lack of response to these attacks. Students that attack teachers are sometimes banned from school for a year, but more often simply transferred to another school to repeat their offenses.
