"... we continue to focus on the effect of violence rather than its causes in order to intensify our efforts to eliminate it."
"Everything says, never stays the same", which means, everything is fluid and nothing stays the same. This phrase belongs to Heraclitus, the philosopher of classical antiquity. Constant movement and change is the fundamental characteristic of reality, however, today everything says... violence and paradoxical social phenomena, causing concern to all of us.. Climate change with strange weather phenomena, pandemics and alternating viruses, wars around the world, unprecedentedly intense phenomena, as well as violence between people since childhood, in fact. This violence has exceeded all limits in the expression of the phenomenon as well as in the leapt increase of the episodes.
It is a fact that the pandemic it changed people's relationship with each other, isolated them, confined them to their homes. The mobile phone craze and the often indulgent internet browsing and hours-long engagement in various online games have reached their peak. People were alienated, conversation, companionship, the exchange of thoughts, which calm the soul, were lost, and thus, some experienced depression, and others were awakened to violent feelings.
I recently read an article by Mr. professor of the Sociology of Education I.E. Pyrgiotakis on violence, where he mentioned the myth of the elephant in the land of the blind sages, which is worth repeating, I believe, because it helps to understand and deal with the phenomenon of violence in the most illustrative and comprehensible way . The myth describes the scene that takes place when an elephant arrives in the country. The king, therefore, called the six wise men to ask them what this unknown and strange animal was. The six sages were all blind. So all six of them stopped around the animal and began to grope it. One felt his belly and said it was a huge hairy wall. The other embraced the elephant's leg and said: But it is clear, this is the thick trunk of a big tree. The third grabbed the proboscis and threw it away in fear, saying that this was a huge snake. The fourth stroked the elephant's ear and decided that it was a fluffy magic carpet, while the one who happened to catch the tusk exclaimed what a fine spear! Finally, the sixth, who caught the tail, said that this was a thick and strong rope! This was the result of the consideration of the sages, who saw things individually and not as a whole. This is how modern society sees violence individually, not as a whole and under the circumstances, which works every time. Violence is one and the same in all cases: in the family, at school, in the playgrounds, but also in the society of animals. It is noteworthy, moreover, that we continue to focus our attention on the effect of violence, rather than on its causes, in order to intensify our efforts to eliminate them.
The violent human reaction becomes even more tragic, nightmarish, I would say, when it comes from school children. And we all know that human education begins and is established at school age. I will therefore attempt to present some thoughts, which could perhaps trouble the experts in the state in dealing with the school violence, of the well-known "bullying" with the English word, which is usually preferred in Greece because of... the poverty of the language! The phenomenon, of course, is not only Greek, but affects worldwide, as the common root cause is globalization and the shift of politics to materialistic values and contempt for humanitarian ones.
The Greek state is trying to deal directly with the phenomenon of violence in schools with punishment and similar legislative regulations. But, as the great Athenian poet Menandros said: "Where there is violence, there is no law". The cause of the violence must therefore be struck in order that the miserable result may not arise. When it remains, the law becomes invalid and ineffective.
The education of young people must be based on humanitarian principles, the only ones capable of shaping their personality and ideals. Students spending hours on the mobile phone or the internet with shows that are often unacceptable and dangerous for their age must be systematically guarded. Furthermore, it is necessary to provide psychologists/counselors for the students in the schools, perhaps the restoration of the old Parents' School could contribute to the effort. In our time, in fact, with the painful living conditions that do not allow parents to allocate the required time for their children, the psychologist, who will fill, if possible, this gap at school, will essentially help the young people along the way their.
Today in schools the primary goal is to train students' skills in order to become effective and able to deal with society. And when they themselves are not enough, they can be replaced by the… superhuman robots, and when their intelligence is not enough, comes the artificial intelligence to fill the gap.
No one is ignorant of progress, but in order to achieve it we must first ensure the cultivation of the soul. Then and only then will young people be able to safely enjoy the benefits of technological progress. I have repeatedly written that we are constantly moving with Technocracy at the expense of humanitarian values. Morality, honesty, justice, solidarity are considered outdated values today, and what I write seems utopian... fortunately, however, I am not the only one. So let's hope we listen before it's too late!
Mrs. Stella Priovolou is an emeritus professor, president of the Body of Emeritus Professors of EKPA, dean of the Municipal People's University of Agia Paraskevi.
source THE STEP
