9th May 2023 will always be remembered as a black day in our history when mobs, mostly young men and women, were provoked to use violence against national security establishments by a political party.

These violent trends are not new. These vandalistic trends had been brewing for decades, but we failed to address them as a responsible society at large. Sensing these violent trends, I wrote articles in April, May and October 2012 under titles of “Sports as means to curb violence”, “Sports & conflict resolution” and “Sports & emotional quotient” but little attention was paid towards the subject.

Sensing the gravity of matter and increase of polarisation, radicalisation and violent trends among the frustrated youth which were further fueled during PTI protests I wrote yet another piece on 8th May 2022, published in The News, in which I tried to explain the complex relationship between positive youth engagement like sports, development of youth leadership, social inclusion, education, empowerment, youth leadership, life skills development and their accumulative result in mitigating violent extremism and increased polarisation in our society.

The subject went unnoticed, because sports sociology and its epistemology is not part of our understanding. In order to make things simple and understandable, let’s walk through the efforts of El Salvador that designed and effectively implemented strategies to curb violence among the youth through sports education and life skills enhancement in its system.

El Salvador is one of the most violent countries in the world. Plagued by gang violence since the end of their civil war in 1992, El Salvador has averaged more than 10 homicides per day over the past 15 years.

Punitive actions such as arresting individuals with tattoos who are suspected of being gang members as part of the government’s “iron fist” approach and declaring gang members as terrorists did not reduce the violence.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) poor social skills, low academic achievement, impulsiveness, truancy and poverty are main factors that fuel youth violence which is exploited by gang leaders. Effective education programmes with inbuilt sports components delivered by trained teachers in local schools have been identified as one of the most effective and sustainable strategies to combat youth violence.

One of the best educational solutions that has been suggested to help combat youth violence is the development of life skills. WHO has defined life skills as abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. They go on to highlight that interventions like sports for developing life skills can help young people avoid violence by improving their social and emotional competencies.

Quality physical education (QPE) programmes have been identified as an important curriculum subject area that can directly influence the development of life skills in children and youth. In a policy statement, UNESCO highlighted that a quality PE programme plays a vital role in the development of life skills and prevention of youth violence.

Unfortunately, we have paid little attention towards this very important area. Our PE syllabus like our routine syllabus is outdated and lacks focus. The PE subjects lack quality and need immediate review for integration into mainstream subjects at the grassroots level.

If interested, the syllabus development authorities in the country can take a lead from Don Hellison’s teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR) model for learning, understanding and integration into PE syllabus for development of necessary life skills.

According to a study the graduates of PE profesorado program in El Salvador integrated Hellison TPSR approach of teaching life skills and values through physical activities that follows their completion of 03-year program and their further employment as PE teachers in local schools. This humanistic and student centered approach to teaching PE uses sports activities as a vehicle through which life skills are taught in an organised manner.

Teachers highlighted that PE provided their students with an opportunity to learn and develop life skills and values in a safe manner through participation in games.

Teachers in El Salvador consequently identified helping students transfer what they learned back into their daily lives within the community as an important component of PE. This made PE unique in comparison with other school subjects, which were often identified as very theoretical rather than hands-on in nature.

A very important lesson that can be learned from the El Salvador model is their focus on developing the capacity of PE teachers who are often viewed as mentors by their students. Unlike our incapacitated PE staff, the students have a very positive rapport with their PE teacher in El Salvador. This suggests that a PE teacher is not just a whistleblower to enforce discipline but has an important role in developing the social fabric of school.

The children and youth in El Salvador have lived through one of the most violent times in the country’s 200 years history.

Salvadorians believe that PE provides a unique opportunity for students to acquire, develop, and apply the life skills learnt in play fields. They claim that “life skills must be taught, not caught”. Many of these life skills form the basic foundation for fewer aggressive behaviors and potentially less violence.

Sports in Pakistan not only need to be brought back into the mainstream education but a serious effort is required to review the PE syllabus, build the capacities of PE teachers at all levels through specialised trainings, and also put in serious efforts to improve the standards of sports degree awarding institutions in the country, who are offering substandard and outdated programmes to PE students.

People, cultures and nations grow and develop who learn from others’ experience. However, the inability to learn leads to disaster. We are a nation full of youthful vigor. It is up to our leadership and policy makers to give bright and futuristic policies to our youth, or leave them directionless as a mob with violent tendencies which is a big threat to the peace and development of Pakistan.

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