Globally, one in four students faces school violence. In Puerto Rico, about 10% of public school students have reported bullying or violence. In the first two weeks of classes, three violent incidents shook Puerto Rico’s schools. From a brutal beating in San Juan to a firearm confiscation in Morovis, violence in Puerto Rican schools has taken a turn for the worse. The violence is not isolated; it reflects a growing crisis.
“Schools are more than places of learning; they are communities of coexistence designed to inspire and serve as positive models for society,” a reporter from Enciclopedia PR said.
Puerto Rico’s public school system began classes on August 13, and within the first month, at least three violent incidents disrupted the territory’s learning environment. The first situation involved a 16-year-old who was attacked by several students after hours in Barrio Caimito, San Juan. Days later, in Barrio Obrero, Santurce, a student in the Special Education program assaulted another student with a pair of scissors in front of the school cafeteria, leaving the victim with a hand injury. However, the most alarming case occurred in Morovis, where authorities intervened after a student brought a nine-millimeter firearm to school.
School violence in Puerto Rico extends far beyond isolated incidents. In general terms, it refers to aggressive behaviors, whether acted out through physical fights, verbal threats, bullying, or vandalism. “Verbal aggression that eventually turns into harassment is more common than physical aggression,” said a school administrator. Additionally, school violence not only affects students, but teachers and staff as well. According to a report by Enciclopedia PR, experts point to root causes that range from family struggles (e.g., economic hardship, domestic violence, and substance abuse) to broader social issues (e.g., inequality, unemployment, and exposure to violent content in media and social networks). The Department of Education recently reported 324 cases of bullying in Puerto Rico’s public schools in just one year, underscoring the scale of the problem.
“Precisely, what we don’t want to normalize [is] school violence,” said Eliezer Ramos Pares, the secretary of education of Puerto Rico.
In an effort to deal with this growing issue, the Department of Education recently compiled 43 separate protocols into one “Manual of Crisis Protocol” to make prevention and intervention strategies easily accessible to school communities. This protocol supplements Law 149 of 1999, which requires that school directors ensure safe learning environments. However, the Department of Police in Puerto Rico admits that having protocols is not enough if they are not rigidly followed.
Schools must tackle cycles of daily hostility before they become larger issues. Experts point out that addressing school violence is not only the duty of administrators and teachers, but of families and communities as well. Such collaboration in helping schools establish and maintain their role as sanctuaries and sites of positive coexistence is a good start to diminishing school violence.
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