Singapore vs. Philippines in School Shootings Prove Systems DO Shape Behavior

Some time ago, I wrote about two topics. The first topic was about school insults and the broken windows theory. The second was all about school violence in connection with the broken windows theory. Before August ends, I thought about the nationwide DepEd policy for an active-threat drill. The news from one school shooting after the other makes me think that school shootings aren't a joke. Sure, there are very controlled school environments like Bethany Christian School, where I remember our disciplinarian was like the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago, and that we had a very orderly drill. I had two classmates who were usually boisterous, but during that fire drill, they were at their most behaved; they didn't have to be warned; they simply complied because of the school environment. 

The update on DepEd's nationwide active threats is a good thing. This is really something that makes sense:

DepEd Undersecretary Malcolm Garma told a Senate hearing Thursday that the department has completed protocols for the exercise with the Philippine National Police (PNP) after initially testing them at Manila Science High School.

“We will be rolling out the nationwide simultaneous drill for August 25. Next week po yan, Madam Chair (That will be next week, Madam Chair),” Garma said.

Unlike conventional earthquake drills, the exercise will test how school personnel and learners react while a human-induced threat is unfolding and what happens immediately afterward.

Garma said a major component will be the reunification stage, where students, parents, medical responders and police are directed to designated areas instead of converging chaotically around the school.

“Malaking bahagi po dun sa drills namin yung tinatawag po namin reunification stage kung saan alam ho ng mga involved kung saan pupunta, saan mag-iipon-ipon together with the medical responders, the police enforcers, nasa isang lugar (A major part of our drills is what we call the reunification stage, where everyone involved knows where to go and where to gather together with medical responders and police in one place),” he said.

The protocol is an offshoot of DepEd's assessment of the Tacloban shooting, where Garma said the post-incident situation became chaotic because students and parents did not immediately know where to go.

“Isa pong bagay na natutunan namin at sana ma-institutionalize na po natin is really the need for the drills (One thing we learned, and which we hope to institutionalize, is really the need for drills),” he said.

The nationwide exercise will be conducted in cooperation with the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Garma said preparedness could also serve as a deterrent if potential attackers know that schools have established procedures for responding immediately to violence.

“Importante yung preparation and readiness and awareness ng school to react, immediately to react kung meron hong ganitong ongoing threat (The preparation, readiness and awareness of schools are important so they can react immediately when there is an ongoing threat),” he said.

However, a school shooting drill can be potentially useless without a strict education system, like Singapore's 

As mentioned, the broken windows theory is a system that can be modified overtime. We can loosen or tighten the system when it's needed. I would like to cite from the Very Well Mind on how we can balance out the broken windows theory:

The Impact of Physical Environment on Behavior

While the broken windows theory and its application are flawed, the underlying idea that our physical environment can influence our behavior does hold some water. On one hand, “the physical environment conveys social norms that influence our behavior,” Tzall explained. “When we observe others adhering to certain norms in a particular space, we tend to adjust our own behavior to align with them.”

If a person sees litter on the street, they might be more likely to litter themselves, for example. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll make the leap from littering to robbery or violent assault. Moreover, litter can often be a sign that there aren’t enough public trashcans available on the streets for people to throw away food wrappers and other waste while they’re out. In that scenario, installing more trashcans would do far more to reduce litter than increasing the number of citations for littering.

“The design and layout of spaces can also signal specific expectations and guide our actions,” Tzall explained. In the litter example, then, the addition of more trashcans could also act as an environmental cue to encourage throwing trash away rather than littering.

How to Create Positive Environments to Foster Safety, Health, and Well-Being

Ultimately, reducing crime requires addressing the root causes of poverty and social inequality that lead to crime. But taking care of public spaces and neighborhoods to keep them clean and enjoyable can still have a positive impact on the communities who live in and use them.

“Positive environments provide opportunities for meaningful interactions and collaboration among community members,” Tzall said. “Access to green spaces, recreational facilities, mental health resources, and community services contribute to physical, mental, and emotional health,” said Tzall.

By creating more positive environments, we can encourage healthier lifestyle choices—like adding protected bike lanes to encourage people to ride bikes—and prosocial behavior—like adding basketball courts in parks to encourage people to meet and play a game with their neighbors.

At the individual level, Tzall suggests people “can initiate or participate in community projects, volunteer for local organizations, support inclusive initiatives, engage in dialogue with neighbors, and collaborate with local authorities or community leaders.” Create positive environments by taking the initiative to pick up litter when you see it, participate in tree planting initiatives, collaborate with your neighbors to establish a community garden, or volunteer with a local organization to advocate for better public spaces and resources. 

As I was thinking about Singapore (and I only expect Makabayan Bloc members, as well as same-minded fellows like Migrante International, to cringe), it involved a foiled school killing attempt. What truly amazed me was how Singapore started its drills in 2017, before three students were apprehended. Channel News Asia also cited this, and this is what the Philippines need to take heed as times change a lot:

CHANGING TIMES

There is a need for such exercises to evolve in response to recent global developments, another teacher said. She did not want to be identified and said that her school, which is in central part of the island, has yet to conduct an anti-terror drill.

“Just like how policies cannot be cast in stone, likewise for such exercises. We need to keep revising them to move in tandem with what’s happening (around us),” she said.

Lockdown drills have been the norm in schools in the United States, following mass shootings that had taken taken place in Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999 and Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.

Parents in Singapore who spoke to TODAY said that introducing such drills in school would raise awareness among students on the dangers of terrorism and how they should respond when an attack occurs.

Housewife Azlin Mohamed, 44, whose daughter is a Primary 2 student at West View Primary School, said that the lessons from such exercises would “stick with them as they grow older”. 

Private tutor Joyce Ong, who is in her 40s and mother of a Secondary 2 student in Nan Hua High School, is supportive as well. “Many places such as Changi Airport are only starting to do simulated terrorist attacks... So, it’s good that schools are doing it, too.”

Primary 6 student Yeo Kai Sheng from West View Primary School said that a terror attack is a “scary thought”, but the situation could worsen if civilians do not know how to respond. 

Zoey Lim, a first-year student at Meridian Junior College, said that she would probably “freak out” if there was a terrorist attack in her school. This was before she attended the drill. “It was good that we went through it,” she said.

In getting people to think ahead and hone their instincts for such dangers, the authorities have not been letting up on their efforts.

Just this month, new laws were passed for building owners and developers to better protect iconic buildings as well as those that house essential services, as part of the Infrastructure Protection Bill. At the same time, the police announced that all security guards must undergo counter-terrorism training by 2020.

Earlier this year, Parliament amended the Public Order Act, which requires organisers of events with large crowds to step up on security measures, such as putting up vehicle barricades and deploying armed security officers.

The Philippines needs to update for the times. What the Philippines needs right now is to think about the film Lean on Me, based on the story of the late Joe Lewis Clark, who died at 82 years old on December 29, 2020. What the Philippines needs is a system that encourages people like Clark to rise up or force people to become similar to Clark or other known educators who focused on challenging the status quo. The Philippines could start by doing the following to avoid the common problems, and here's a few of my recommendations:

1. Insults may not be criminalized (that would be too much, as insults fall under civil offenses), but they can fall under disciplinary problems. Sure, a student may not be suspended or expelled over an insult. However, a student will still be required to attend mandatory proactive discipline for their own protection. If insults are tolerated, the student may end up, sooner or later getting guilty of libel, slander, 
2. Schools can set fines, like instant disciplinary notices, for penalties like feeding birds, urinating/defecating at inappropriate places, chewing gum, littering, wasting water, not flushing, eating at inappropriate places, etc., just like Singapore. When this is set to students, this sends the message, "If I get penalized for these offenses, the chances of getting suspended for cheating or fistfighting are astronomically high; if I do commit murder or engage in drug dealing or use, the certainty of getting expelled is astronomically high.
3. Study hazards like toys, basketball cards, etc., are to be kept at home. Students who bring them would experience confiscation, and the contraband is to be claimed by the parent at the end of the semester.

As we move forward, the problem in the Philippines isn't with the DNA. The problem is actually systemic in nature. What the Philippines needs first is system change, all before Filipinos can expect long-term character change to happen.