Bahrain
Letter From
Bahrain Them and Us
What am I doing here … I wish none of this had happened …” In the opening sequence of a film, made by Scottish school children, a young teenage boy reflects upon events leading to his imprisonment. As the story develops, an incident leads to pressure to respond with tragic consequences. The teenager had, throughout his life, been pressured by his father and wider social group to hate “them”; it’s a story that can be repeated across the world time and time again.
We have all been there, seen it and felt it, the intense pressure to act in certain ways, to change our attitudes and values and to adopt a different set of standards. With a fear of rejection, the individual rarely considers what lies behind the pressure to conform, succumbing, often against their better judgement. The film showed how hatred of “them” had been implanted into the minds of the younger population for generations - fathers influencing their sons, who in turn influenced their sons. More than an extreme emotional reaction, hatred is used to manipulate entire communities through, fear and ignorance. With Gaza so recently in the news, we have witnessed the consequences of hatred yet again. Imagine a young Israeli girl leading a comfortable life - she is unlikely to have ever met a Palestinian. Yet she may speak of Palestinians and Arabs with hatred - demonstrating the effectiveness and the
70 | Bahrain Confidential | January 2013
power of peer pressure in creating an ideology of hatred, used to influence a population. The pointlessness of hatred only becomes apparent to the teenage boy’s father as he reads of the tragic events in the newspaper. The teenager is confused, raised to hate “them” he cannot understand his father’s shock and anger. “Why” he asked “was Dad so upset
John R Ridley
Singapore has long had a different approach to litter; using high fines, but these penalties have proved to be increasingly ineffective. Community based educators are now successfully using peer pressure to promote cleanliness and a clean
environment. The International Red Crescent societies use peer education to encourage behavioural change. It works in the same way as peer pressure - educators who identify with, and share the same background as their peers, communicate more easily with “marginalised or vulnerable” groups. If the recipients of the message can relate to the messenger, they are more likely to adopt a change in their attitudes and behaviours. As the film draws to a close, the teenager reflects upon the tragic events. “If I have kids, they won’t make the same mistakes I did” he tells us. Peer education can be used constructively by governments and other organisations to change people’s behaviour. No matter who we are, or our position within society, we all have a part to play in ending conflict and sectarianism for the benefit of the of whole society. I would appreciate your comments and feedback on this subject, comments can be left at http://www.johnridley.nu/ themandus where you can read the full article, the page includes a link to the original film
“Peer pressure does not need to be destructive; it is increasingly used to change attitudes and behaviour for the better ... guiding others back from antisocial or damaging behaviour.” and angry after what he had always said?” Only in prison does he come to understand that “they” are no different from “us”. Peer pressure does not need to be destructive, it is increasingly used to change attitudes and behaviour for the better, be it peers encouraging academic or sporting success, or in guiding others back from antisocial or damaging behaviour. Across the UK during the 60s and 70s there was a campaign to solve the problem of litter in local areas and communities Keep Britain Tidy. It was a huge success, today most of the population considers littering to be socially unacceptable. But, it is essential to maintain the pressure, or we may slip back into our old ways.
John Ridley, a Bahrain based writer, broadcaster and journalist, can be contacted atjohn@johnridley.nu