There have been a number of assaults on school teachers in Saudi Arabia. Students have assaulted their teachers in a number of ways, such as beating them with sticks or iqals (the black cord used to hold in place the headscarf worn by Arab men). Students have also stabbed teachers or fired guns at them and have damaged their cars. Is assaulting teachers a punishable offense? Of course it is. Such students are criminals and deserve to be punished for their criminal activities. Since corporal punishment was banned in government schools, some Saudi students have been bold enough to assault their teachers with the conviction that they have nothing to fear. I do not know whether the Ministry of Education has carried out any research into why there is a growing increase in the number of teachers who are being assaulted by students in Saudi schools. If any such study has been carried out, then what was the outcome? Has the ministry taken any steps to stop this? It is not very clear or apparent what the ministry has done to stop such attacks. There is no doubt that such incidents of violence are increasing and deserve proper detailed research. Most schools emphasize education but fail to consider the moral training of their pupils. Such assaults against teachers usually occur in government schools, not in private schools. Banning corporal punishment in schools does not necessarily further the noble objectives of education. What was it that prompted the Ministry of Education to ban corporal punishment rather than permitting it to a limited extent? School principals and their deputies should be allowed to physically chastise students in situations when words, warnings and other forms of punishment do not work. In this regard, I would like to draw people's attention to a column recently written by Abdullah Khayyat in Okaz. “Behaving gently with some male or female students will not bring about good results. They have to be disciplined with a stick in a mild way,” he wrote. At present, some students are terrorizing and threatening their teachers with their reckless behavior. As a result, they have no respect for their teachers. There is an urgent need for an extensive study to be conducted about this problem which has the potential to derail the process of education in the Kingdom. This is essential for the correct upbringing of our children as future citizens in terms of both their education and their moral upbringing.
