Parents, teachers and other members of the community must take more responsibility for reducing youth violence, experts say.
Natchanan: Parents must curb aggression
The call comes on the heels of several violent incidents involving children.
The latest case involved a five-year-old kindergarten student who was attacked by two first-graders, egged on by an older student, at his school playground in Suphan Buri province on March 1. The boy suffered a fractured shoulder and was hospitalised after coming down with blood poisoning and a heart valve infection.
The boy spent several days in a coma. He has since regained consciousness, but remains in ICU at Chulalongkorn Hospital.
Earlier, the media published details of video clips taken at several violent brawls among female junior grade students.
Natchanan Charatcharungkiat, a doctor and lecturer at the National Institute for Child and Family Development, Mahidol University, said violence among children reflects changing behaviour in society.
Children learn aggressive behaviour by modelling their actions after the people and activities that surround them, she said. "Parents can be the most important model of aggression that children will absorb."
For instance, the way that parents react to other drivers on the road can set an example for their children.
Students will also model their behaviour after teachers, she said, emphasising the need for teachers to explain their actions to students.
At home, parents should monitor what children watch on television, and should prevent them from watching violent programmes meant for an adult audience, Dr Natchanan said.
Children may also learn aggressive behaviour from computer games and the internet.
Kids must be taught right from wrong, she said.
Dr Natchanan said children lack guidance about how to react when they encounter aggressive behaviour.
Parents today tend to spend less time teaching their children about dealing with emotions. Children need to be punished if they act aggressively, she said.
She said society as a whole is responsible for the way children behave. "We must be good role models for them."
Violence by adults against children is also becoming more of a problem, said Taweesin Visanuyothin, director of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Rajanagarindra Institute.
The doctor referred to a recent case of a 12-year-old Karen girl who was kidnapped and enslaved by a Kamphaeng Phet couple for half of her life.
The girl was rescued last month and transferred to doctors at Ramathibodi Hospital. The child's physical injuries can be cured, but her emotional and mental trauma cannot, the doctor said.
Incidents of violence against children seem to happen regularly, Dr Taweesin said.
But nothing has yet been done to curb that violence.
Thailand lacks thorough studies about how to deal with youth violence and there is a lack of information and awareness about the issue, he said.
Bullying committed among students and by authority figures such as teachers and politicians is seen as normal behaviour here, he said.
Children absorb behaviour that appears to be socially acceptable, Dr Taweesin said.