by VÍCTOR CORCOBA HERRERO
It seems as if conflict has become a natural part of our lives. Everywhere, there are conflicts, struggles between worlds and borders, ideologies and ethnicities, reality and consciousness... We need to extinguish their living flames. Their causes are many and complex: political, social, cultural, and religious; therefore, educational action is even more necessary, starting in schools, acting with foresight and patience on their roots, preventing their spontaneous branching, and extinguishing their evil contagious force in future generations.
The fact that a congress is going to be held with regional authorities, national and foreign experts to discuss the issue of conflict in the classroom is good news. Compiling the best experiences in this field and disseminating them among the educational community and schools through guides can be very healthy for changing behaviors. Similarly, strengthening the connection of schools with the environment undoubtedly contributes to integration, which is so necessary for these times, as well as strengthening their ties with families and city councils.
Really, the schools themselves can do little to address diversity. With everyone's help, they can do something more. Solidarity is key. Society has to restore the authority of teachers to curb student indiscipline. It occurs to me that preferential treatment of rapid and effective legal assistance to all education professionals against physical and verbal attacks related to their work would not be out of place. Nor do I think it would be wrong for students to get more involved in their school and be able to mediate in a conflict. The aggressor student always finds it more embarrassing to face his victim face to face and acknowledge the truth in front of his classmates than mere expulsion.
If we want unity and not divisions, fraternity and not antagonisms, peace and not wars to prevail in the future, we must work with young people in this sense of sharing experiences and solutions, of extinguishing fires through dialogue, as civilized people. Sometimes, young people see their hopes for the future collapse and then go from being victims to being irresponsible protagonists of conflicts. Other times, their emotional life has been marked by many doubts regarding feelings, starting with those about identity, sex, or their own family. In my opinion, these personalities are the result of an education that fails in the most basic thing, in teaching to live together (and to live) with each other. To rectify is wise.
