KPAI: There Were Children Who Participated In The Demonstration Because They Were Bored Of Not Going To School

Commissioner for the Protection of Indonesian Children Jasra Putra (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Commissioner for the Protection of Indonesian Children (KPAI) Jasra Putra said, based on his investigation, the children who participated in the demonstration ended up rioting in Jakarta on Tuesday, October 13, one of which was because they were bored of not attending face-to-face school.

"I approached the girl, she admitted to school at SMK Jatinegara. She came to the location invited by her friends and she admitted that she was getting tired of distance learning (PJJ)," Jasra told reporters in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Tuesday, October 13.

He said, the backgrounds of the children participating in the demonstration were many of them who lacked family protection, such as because of dropping out of school, parents rarely coming home because of the far place of work, and PJJ which recently tended to be only teaching activities for homework assignments.

Jasra gave an example, one of the demo participants was a junior high school student from Tangerang who came to Central Jakarta by train. The child joined the demonstration after being invited by a friend on social media and the conditions at home were uncomfortable.

From Jasra's observations in the field, the situation of the children in the demonstration seemed to be clustered and did not pay attention to the speeches delivered from the command car. In other words, their arrival tends to be indifferent to the main action. If a provocation occurs, they are vulnerable to being trapped in riots, or even getting involved.

Jasra said the child's health situation around the demonstration was bad, such as smoking, no one reminded them to use a mask and the surrounding environment tended to ignore it. In fact, Jakarta is a COVID-19 red zone that requires its citizens to apply health protocols.

"Children are a vulnerable group in a sea of masses like this, especially the limiting conditions during a pandemic, adding to children's distress. With the flood of information it makes children easily involved, due to their psychological condition," he said.

KPAI, he said, would soon hold a plenary session by summoning representatives from across ministries / institutions, student organizations, mass organizations, children's forums, and related elements in deliberation on situations involving children.