During the recent consultative hearing at the session of the Committee for Health, Labor and Social Welfare of the Parliament of Montenegro on the subject of peer violence, an agreement was reached that the relevant ministries should continue activities on organizing wider consultations with all relevant subjects in solving this problem!
The question remains open - have specific activities been determined and what coordination model is envisaged between the authorized departments? This semi-confusion confirms the fact that future interdepartmental cooperation does not have a clear starting point and that, apart from horrifying information about violence among young people, we do not have a detailed account of the causes of this phenomenon, as well as what goals and who should achieve them in a certain period. It is true that even much more organized communities have a problem with this scourge, but they have concretized their approach through appropriate analyses, scientific research activities and clearly defined obligations that the authorities must fulfill. We are still "actively" waiting for this social disease to subside again! In fact, not only this session, but everything we observe these days confirms that we are in a cycle of shifting responsibilities. Statements by public officials, in which they claim that juvenile violence is given excess media attention, are not inappropriate, but ill-fated!
In the previous media analysis of peer violence, we have heard and read many expert interpretations. However, the authorities are still confused about the approach, which should be systemic and interdisciplinary. Competent institutions should comprehensively treat perpetrators of violence and their victims, as well as their family members.
We have not heard any comments from the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare that would refer to personnel and spatial potential, as well as the professional competence of centers for social work for adequate actions in cases of all forms of violence. The announcement by the Minister of Education that a commission has been formed which, based on the number of students in certain schools, will assess whether the number of psychologists and pedagogues should be increased indicates an inadequate assessment of the role of the education system in solving this problem. Namely, all educational institutions must have both a psychologist and a pedagogue! Psychologists should constantly monitor teaching activities and attend the maintenance of departmental communities, as well as monitor the work of departmental councils. Their communication with the students must not be occasional, but thematically frequent. Psychologists must conduct their consultations with students exclusively in the presence of their legal guardians, while the possible absence of parents or other persons who take care of students should automatically activate the engagement of experts from social work centers. The announcement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the formation of the Working Team for the Suppression of Peer Violence has the contours of a contradiction due to the minister's own statement about the insufficient number of police officers. A school policeman or a community policeman (actually his name is irrelevant) is not a member of the internal affairs authority who will constantly stay in the immediate vicinity of the educational institution, but is someone who will monitor the situation at certain intervals and according to his own assessments and have a planned communication with the school management and teachers on duty! This practice is not unknown to the MUP, but it was revoked a few years ago, during its development, indicatively!
Of course, in this process, as the experience of the Scandinavian countries shows, there are no final solutions.
In our case, the process should follow the path traced by the following questions: how to act in the direction of improved prevention and more effective sanctions? Is it true that we have a significant number of children for whom violence is acceptable behavior? Should we appropriately sanction children who watch violence with a smile, record it and encourage it on social networks? Has the current punishment of juvenile offenders lost its meaning, because it does not cause fear among potential perpetrators? Has there ever been a study that dealt with the imposition of educational measures and their impact on offenders? Can a multiple returnee for criminal offenses be subject to increased supervision of the center for social work? Why is there no possibility of (adequate) enforcement of institutional-type criminal sanctions for minors in Montenegro? Should "peer violence" become an institution of criminal law? Is there any point in moving the lower limit of criminal responsibility towards minors? Should the perpetrators of crimes, for which a prison sentence of 10 years is provided, be tried regardless of their age? Why do we predominantly have perpetrators of violence and vandalism among students in the final grades of elementary schools and the beginning grades of secondary educational institutions? Is it allowed to find an unannounced person in the school yards or to be there someone who is not a student of that institution? Are the schoolyards clearly defined and properly fenced? Why don't the members of the Police Administration monitor schoolyards, bus stops and places where students predominantly stay at certain intervals? How should young people develop a sense of socially acceptable behavior? Are we teaching children to be polite and compassionate to us? Shall we finally start determining the responsibility of parents? How to limit and sanction the harmful influence of the media on inappropriate behavior among young people? What will we do with the use of mobile phones while at school? Are there teachers in schools who do not report violence and do not help victims of violence? Do we have on-call practice in all educational institutions and how do all members of the teaching and non-teaching staff treat it? Do we need psychologists and pedagogues in all schools? Are our children increasingly depressed and therefore prone to maladaptive behavior? Is violence more of a socio-psychological phenomenon or a security problem?
The answers to these and similar questions are obvious, but the authorities do not want to say them publicly!
Bonus video:
