According to this article, schools in Thailand are becoming very dangerous. Buildings are being burned and teachers are being attacked by fighters who are trying to seek revenge on the government. It's hard to comprehend that the military could have any blame in endangering the students and disrupting their education but in fact, they are. Even though they are present at schools for protection, they are using the schools are military bases. Sunai Phasuk would agree with this statement. He says that the government needs to remove heavy security in schools. "There will not be an atmosphere of progress towards some sort of peace, if security forces are present in places where only teachers should be," he said. A specific attack that has occurred took place on September 7 when a motorcyclist shot two teachers with a M16 rifle. "Insurgent attacks on teachers have created the most serious disruption to education in the south," Sophie Richardson, the acting Asia director at HRW, said. Most attacks have been reported as a raid against the government and the Thai Buddhist population. Suthirak Kiongsuwan has been held accountable for being the leader of the gunmen team, who has attacked Muslim worshipers back in June 2009. This specific attack killed ten people and injured twelve. Since January 2004, there has been a total of 108 deaths and 103 injuries, all against teachers. Other school personnel, like janitors and administrative officers, are also being attacked.
I've always heard about how Americans are lucky to have access to education and that we shouldn't take advantage of it. This article gives the perfect example of that statement. I think it would be horrible to have to be scared just to go to school. We, as students, definitely take it for granted that we can wake up everyday, go to school, go back home, and everything be okay. I think the article was overall an informative article. If I could critique it in any way, I would say that I would like to know more about the different attacks and how they took place.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/09/20109214583641680.html
2 comments:
If the military is on site when these teachers and other personnel are being attacked, why are they not doing anything about it? Also, if the military leaves, will that stop the violence against teachers? And why are teachers being attacked and not members of the military? This article makes me question many things. It seems to me that whether the military is there or not does not make a difference if attackers are seeking revenge against the government. However, I can also see how removing all or some of the military from schools can show a feeling of peace and mutual trust, possibly demonstrating that these teachers and students are innocent people and are not the ones that attackers should take their frustration out on.
It is hard to imagine having a military prescence around high schools or even university's. School is taxing and stressful enough even without the distraction of armed men.
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