In a horrifying act of school violence, student Mohammad Al-Humaidi suffered severe burns inflicted by his classmates at a public school in Russeifa. This shocking event has sparked widespread debate about the role of school administrations in ensuring student safety, raising pressing concerns about negligence, accountability, and the overall security of educational institutions. How could such a tragedy occur within school walls, and what does it reveal about the state of student protection in Jordanian schools?
This incident is not an anomaly but a symptom of a much deeper crisis, one that I and others who have attended public schools witnessed firsthand in Jordan’s public school system. Attending a military school, I was unsurprised to hear about harassment and abuse in neighboring girls’ public schools. Incidents that occurred at twice the rate of ours. Yet, girls repeatedly reminded to be “thankful” because conditions were “worse” in boys’ public schools. Worse, in this case, meant unchecked physical, psychological, and sexual abuse—both from teachers and students. These cases are dismissed, leaving people to wonder why boys struggle academically. The issue was never apathy or that “boys can handle it”—it has always been a failure to ensure accountability as well as a safe environment for male adolescents. This neglect must not be normalized; no student should be abandoned to such conditions
The stark disparity between public and private schools in Jordan—ranging from education quality to cases of violence—is consistently ignored.
Even more troubling is how these issues are silenced and are called anomalies yet are constantly normalized.
The response to violence and abuse in schools is deeply shaped by socioeconomic divides as well as cultural fear of shame. It has been reported that the principal of Mohammad’s school told him to remain silent and claim the burns were self-inflicted, avoiding responsibility at all costs. In private schools, especially those in Amman, misconduct is more likely to spark outrage, intervention, or reform. Meanwhile, in public schools—particularly those outside the capital—such cases are dismissed as an unfortunate norm. Even within the public system, girls’ schools receive relatively more scrutiny when misconduct occurs, while boys’ schools remain largely neglected under the excuse that “boys will be boys”, a phrase that has long enabled unchecked abuse.
This selective neglect does more than reinforce cycles of harm; it teaches students that their suffering is expected, that accountability is conditional, and that silence is survival. No student should have to accept abuse as part of their education. If school is meant to be a place of learning, then the first lesson must be that every student deserves protection, dignity, and justice.
