The meeting of the Pedagogic Society of Serbia

Deviate behaviour at school

The topic of this forum named "1000 TRAPS" that attracted many people is - Aggression, deviated behaviour, the alarming dependence of the adolesence (school children) and the suggestions on how to prevent these problems.

The following is singled out from Dr. Snezna Tomic's speech:

Among the poisons of today threatening the young is the large amount of time spent playing video games.

The electronic drug

Nine year olds are spending up to nine hours daily on computers playing games. The generation's mafical triangle: TV, PC games and a waste of time standing in front of the mirror.

- I feel helpless not knowing what to do with my eleven year old boy Nikola, at home who is either watching TV, playing PC games or in front of the mirror. Nothing else interests him. When I remind him to do a bit of studying, he just nodds his head and tells me that I'm so annoying. - Those were the comments of a mother whose child is in grade five and knowing that her child's behaviour is not unlike that of other children his age is of no comfort to her. Somehow, everyone is a part of the same magical triangle, where the only cool things are spending hours in front of the TV set, playing PC games and standing in front of the mirror making sure that your hairstyle is tops.
Experts are very serious in their efforts to warn the public of the threat of the dependence of a new kind spreading among children and adults alike. PC games can already be considered an electronic drug (a drug of a kind) that takes up all of the victim's spare time, is not only a threat to the family budget but to your health, decreasing the work efficiency and increasing the amount of negative energy one may have. One example of just how much it influences bad behaviour is when a thirteen year old boy who started to play PC games when he was in grade two is being put through therapy because as someone who has been spending 8-9 hours a day on computer games was caught in action twice stealing things from his house in order to sell and pay for his obsession.

That case stimulated a group of doctors from the "Savski venac" medical clinic to investigate the extent of this occurrence in schools in this municipality of Belgrade. The reasearch included 258 students in grade 5 from 5 primary schools where it was concluded that 24,4% of children do not play games on the PC but only because they do not own a PC. 42,6% of children play at least 2 hours a day on the PC, 27% of the children said that they spend 3-4 hours daily in front of the PC while there are those who spend a lot more time.

Most of those interviewed play at home, while 40% of the twelve year olds spend their time in the Internet Cafes playing on the computer where they weekly spend about 100 dinars. They get carried away so much that some children don't even know how to play together, without PC games, or the TV, because that is the only way they spend their free time.

Pediatrician Snezana Tomic conducted this research with her colleagues Marica Milidrag and Mira Ilic. They were astounded by the realisation that every third child said that their parents had nothing against these hobbies.

- Another thing in particular that surprised us was that 41% of the students train daily in a sports club, while 31% play 2-3 times a week. Therefore, it is not unusual that their marks at school aren't so great as their study time is very limited.

As a doctor I feel obliged to warn of the harmful effects of video games, because they can stimulate aggressive behavoiur in children. It can result in distortion between what is real and what is fiction, and as with other illnesses, important duties may be overlooked. Staring into the screen can also result in eye fatigue, while the lack of physical activity can lead to weight gain. Finally, with video games time and money is worthlessly spent - warns Dr Tomic.

Adults are no exeption to this obsession.
Beside the new computer drugs which took under its wing "young and old" alike, students, as is already known, keenly take up drinking, cigarettes and drugs, as they believe that it helps them decrease tension and the fear of growing up. If life in a country where the daily routine is one such as this then we can surely conclude that their problems are (at least) twice as great.

The Pediatrics department at the "Savski venac" medical centre asked primary and secondary school students from the municipality what their thoughts were on alcohol, drugs and cigarettes, not only to see the extent of which they are popular among students, but to try and prevent their use by getting to the core of the problem.

Dr Tomic reminds us of the fact that the consumption of alcohol is a large part of our tradition and culture. All events in our culture are followed by consuming alcohol - births, deaths, success and failure. So, really, children are usually mimicking adults who they love and respect, thus if parents, teachers and other people close to them drink, there is a big possibility that they will go down the same road. Almost every second student in grade 6 that was interviewed has already tried an alcoholic drink, and a large majority has continued. It usually starts at the age of 12 with a beer, while the first drunken experience is at the age of 13. These teenagers like liquer and wine and vodka. The research conducted in high school has shown that at the age of 14 students switch to rakija and even stronger drinks.

30% of sixteen - seventeen year olds regularly buy cigarettes. The case in primary schools is also alarming as there are those that from the age of 10 smoke at least 10 cigarettes a day.
The research in Savski venac shows that pre-school children think that smoking, which they see from their parents, is attractive and interesting. Their focus from very early childhood is directed towards the box of matches and lighting the cigarette either with matches or a lighter and the smoke exhailed out the nose. In general, the young know very little of the bad effects of cigarettes - says Dr Tomic.

Another topic being discussed with more than 1 200 primary and secondary school students in Savski venac was drugs. The research included six primary schools and the high school "Sveti Sava". Those interviewed were students in grades six, first and third years at high school. 35% of primary school and 39% of secondary school students stated that drugs were infact present in the school yards. 18 year olds were offered drugs twice the amount than in primary schools, three times greater was the number in the third year of high school that tried a narcotic and that continued consuming it. More or less all of the secondary school students were convinced that their teachers also used drugs. Walking through the school yard you can usually smell marijuana, while in secondary schools priority is given to ecstasy.

Thinking they are stupid

'Moodiness while growing up' has only been the focus of researchers in the last 2 decades. This syndrome is recognised late. A typical depressive episode consists of a loss of interest and satisfaction, a decrease of energy levels, which leads to an increase in fatigue and less physical activity. Irritability in children can lead to problems in school, a disinterest in playing with other children and other forms of entertainment, as well as frequent headaches and stomachaches, a decrease of activity. A lot of the time the young think that they are stupid and unpopular...

Olga Nikolic
("GLAS JAVNOSTI")