The incident that occurred at the “Idrak” lyceum located in Binagadi district, which resulted in a 10th-grade student firing a firearm at his teacher, has caused serious concern in society. This incident reveals that the increasing tendency towards violence among minors is not accidental, and at the same time, highlights the existence of deep social and psychological problems.
Furthermore, against the backdrop of the incident, the activities of private lyceums, as well as the level of control mechanisms and responsibility distribution in such educational institutions, also come into focus.
In a statement to Modern.az regarding the issue, education expert Mazahir Mammadli stated that such incidents rightly cause serious concern in society.
“Such incidents can occur in any educational institution – be it a state general education school, a private lyceum, a college, or a university. However, I do not believe that the incident will lead to initiatives resulting in the closure of the “Idrak” lyceum. Frankly, no institution is fully insured against such risks.
The problem is deeper and also has a universal character. The aggression observed in society in recent years has already permeated the school environment. Especially since 2011, addiction to games presented as “entertainment” for children over the internet, but which are extremely dangerous, has led to severe consequences in several countries.”
According to the expert, although initiatives to ban such games have been put forward since 2016, the well-known incident that occurred in Crimea in 2018 showed that the danger is still relevant:
“In that incident, a 10th-grade student carried out an armed attack against his classmates, killing several people and severely injuring others. According to information circulating on social networks today, the participant in the incident at Idrak Lyceum carried out the act by taking that very event as a reference point, a kind of “example”.”
M. Mammadli regretfully noted that schoolchildren who choose such incidents as their “idol” and draw inspiration from them exist today in both private and state schools. According to him, this is no longer just the problem of one school or one student.
“The main and decisive role in preventing such incidents falls on parents. Serious, systematic, and supervised work must be carried out between parents and children. Although certain prohibitions are applied at the state level, these measures are currently unable to fully restrict children's access to dangerous content. Today, every student with a tablet or smartphone can easily connect to these types of games and platforms.”
The expert also emphasized that the probability of such incidents increasing, rather than decreasing, appears higher in the future:
“Children who are addicted and participate in these types of games try to prove themselves by being “inspired” by the events they witness. Especially, the greater inclination of some students with weak academic performance and low attendance to the criminal world further increases this risk.
To prevent this situation from leading to severe consequences, state institutions – the Ministry of Science and Education, as well as law enforcement agencies – must take stricter and more systematic measures against the spread of dangerous games and harmful content, similar to their fight against cybercrime. The spread of the dangerous game called “Blue Whale” in Azerbaijan since 2016 and its causation of several suicides had also severely shaken society. During that period, the combined efforts of parents and relevant institutions managed to prevent this danger.
However, new and different games have emerged today. War-themed online games, the unification of children from various countries on the same platform, the discussion of scenarios that normalize violence, and attempts to apply them to real life also create a basis for such unpleasant and dangerous incidents,” M. Mammadli added.
