February 23, 2024
JAKARTA – Education observers have condemned a bullying incident against a student of BINUS International School in South Tangerang, Banten, that went viral on social media following reports from netizens on Monday.
News about the incident first surfaced on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday when a user under the handle @BosPurwa reported a case of alleged bullying at the international high school in Serpong, South Tangerang.
The user claimed that the victim, a student from the high school, was bullied by dozens of his seniors who beat and burned him with a cigarette.
After the initial post, other users jumped on the bandwagon, sharing videos and photos allegedly of the incident.
One of the circulating videos on Monday showed a student standing with his pants taken off in front of other students at a food stall. The video also showed him being choked by another student.
The viral posts caused a stir on social media, alerting education watchdogs such as the Education and Teachers Association (P2G), which condemned the incident and said it regretted that such incidents were still happening.
“We suspect that our 2023 ministerial regulation is not fully implemented at the school. Otherwise, they would have a team to prevent and handle violent cases,” P2G national coordinator Satriwan Salim said on Tuesday.
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He referred to the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministerial Regulation No. 46/2023, which mandated all education units to form violence prevention and handling teams (TPPKs) in an effort to protect students from any forms of violence.
Nunuk Suryani, the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry’s Teachers and Education Personnel Director General, also asserted the importance of the TPPKs in combatting bullying cases.
However, Satriwan said the recent case was rooted in the school’s culture, in which seniors and alumni continued a long tradition of imposing their seniority on juniors, often in the form of violent abuse.
“Teachers must guide students in school activities or organizations where seniors and alumni could intervene because, in many cases, this is where they pass on violent culture to their younger schoolmates,” he continued.
More than one perpetrator
After news about the bullying spread, users on X pointed their fingers at a student group called “Geng Tai” (Poop Gang), which was notorious for its bullying in the school community.
Netizens claimed that the group consisted of 12th graders at BINUS high school in Serpong. The group is also known for verbal and physical abuse during initiation ceremonies for new members.
The group received more scrutiny as some members were allegedly sons of famous figures or celebrities, including a TV personality and actor Vincent Rompies.
BINUS Group spokesperson Haris Suhendra confirmed on Monday that one of the group members was Vincent’s son. He also said the institution was currently investigating the incident and providing support for the victim.
“BINUS School Serpong will not tolerate violence in any form,” Haris said as quoted by kompas.com.
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The victim’s parents had reported the bullying incident to the police, who were investigating the case, said South Tangerang Police’s Women and Children Protection (PPA) unit Second Insp. Galih Dwi Nuryanto.
The victim suffered from abuse by more than one perpetrator, according to Galih, although he refrained from revealing the identities of the suspects. He promised to share more updates as the investigation process developed.
There were bruises on half of the victim’s body and burn scars as a result of being hit by a hot object,” he said as quoted by Antara.
Social media users, who claimed to be BINUS School Serpong students or people related to them, have shared names of the alleged group members along with the techniques they use to abuse their victims, ranging from punching, kicking and burning one’s arm with cigarettes.
Throughout 2023, there were 30 cases of bullying in school reported and investigated by authorities, according to the Federation of Indonesian Teachers Association (FSGI). The figure rose from 21 cases in the previous year.