By Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, Chairman
Alliance for a Safe Community
KOTA KINABALU: The Alliance for a Safe Community expresses deep concern over the recent spate of disturbing incidents involving students — including a school murder case, sexual assault, and bullying.
These incidents point to a growing crisis of emotional instability, moral decay, and social disconnection among our young people.
These incidents should serve as a wake-up call to the nation to look seriously at the mental and emotional wellbeing of students.
Our children are growing up in an environment of intense academic pressure, social media addiction, and weakening family communication.
Many are emotionally immature and lack coping skills to deal with stress, anger, and rejection.
Emotional immaturity, compounded by the negative influence of social media, has contributed to impulsive, aggressive, and sometimes violent behaviour.
Constant exposure to toxic content, online bullying, and glorification of violence on digital platforms are shaping distorted attitudes and normalising harmful behaviour among youths.
Schools must go beyond academics to strengthen character education, moral values, empathy, and emotional control.
There is also an urgent need for more trained counsellors in schools to identify and help students who show signs of distress, anger, or emotional instability before problems escalate into tragedy.
Parents play a crucial role in monitoring their children’s online activities and providing emotional guidance.
They must communicate openly, teach empathy and respect, and spend quality time with their children.
Society, too, must stop glorifying violence or unhealthy content that influences young minds.
The Alliance calls for a whole-of-community approach — involving parents, teachers, NGOs, religious leaders, and the media — to restore moral grounding and emotional resilience among students.
Without immediate intervention, these troubling trends may lead to a generation that is academically capable but emotionally and morally fragile.
