COMMENTARY: How much is too much to pay for a happy childhood?

A year after Jokela school killings many stuck in black holes of bureaucracy

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By Antti Blåfield
     
     A year ago in September the Birtish Financial Times newspaper published a Finland supplement, which described Finland as a grim country stuck in its past.
     I did not recognise Finland from the description.
     Two months later, when a massacre occurred at the Jokela school, claims arose again that Finland is a grim and violent country.
     Again, I was unable to recognise the Finland that was described.
     
Our history is certainly violent. On the border between the churches of the east and west, Finland and the Finns had to take part in wars, both its own, and those of others. After independence, the Civil War was a shocking disaster, even on a European scale, and it is in these years that we are laying to rest those parents and grandparents who had to experience three wars in their lifetimes.
     Suicides began to increase in the 1920s, and after the wars it was noted that proportionally, Finns committed more suicides than most other Europeans.
     Alcohol seems to be a more difficult problem for Finns than for many others.
     In recent times, forms of violence have arisen that have stayed hidden until now - such as domestic violence affecting children and women.
     More guns are in the hands of private citizens in Finland than in almost any other European country.
     
Nevertheless, claims that Finland would be an exceptionally grim and violent country are not supported by research. In fact, the suicide rate has declined by about 40 per cent form the level in the 1950s, and Finland does not significantly differ from the rest of Europe in these statistics. There has been an especially sharp decline in suicides committed by young men.
     Per capita reports of acts of violence are about as common as is the case in Europe on average.
     So the mass killings in Jokela and Kauhajoki should not be taken as evidence of a Finnish frame of mind, or even of Finnish society. Instead, they are cries for help concerning the significance of childhood and youth.
     The question has arisen in both the Jokela and Kauhajoki massacres about how anyone can sink so deep into darkness.
     The ability of the individual to survive in society is affected significantly by the buffers that the person has available. Each person is an individual, but the more someone has to confront difficulties alone, the weaker he or she is.
     The buffers include family, friends, fellow pupils and students, hobby groups, neighbours.
     The stronger these buffers are, the stronger the position of the individual. And society fares better, the better its members are faring.
     Each adult is responsible for him, or herself, and his or her family. Children need to be protected and guided.
     But society also has great responsibility.
     
Society has many possibilities to follow the development of children and young people: maternity clinics, day care, school. They offer a possibility to follow an entire age group, and also to pick out the ones who need more support than others from child protection, home assistance, shelters, health care services.
     Day care personnel, and especially schoolteachers and school nurses have the possibility to notice problems, because they observe the children regularly. For this reason as well, the size of day care groups and school classes is important.
     Teachers also need psychological know-how to be able to intervene in situations involving bullying, for instance.
     But it is not sufficient to recognise the existence of problems. They also need to be dealt with. If a pupil has mental health problems, therapy offered by specialised health care is needed, and it can take years.
     These costs should be paid out of the state budget, lest local authorities be tempted to cut costs in the wrong way. The later problems are addressed, the more difficult they are to deal with.
     The more peace and security, as well as understanding support and professional skill a child and young person has, the better he or she can withstand the flood of stimuli emanating from the postmodern world.
     
Experts say that it is not just about money.
     Matters are excessively dealt with by sectors, when the goal should be cooperation, and attaining an overall picture of a situation. Much might be achieved if experts from different fields would learn to listen to each other and work together. At present, too many people who have difficulties get stuck in black holes left between different officials.
     The reality of mental health work for young people is also weakened by the fact that money is spent on large and small separate projects, without a good plan, without an overall concept, or follow-up.
     But it is also a question of money.
     This is understood in other places.
     When the Finnish business community and the Ministry of Finance lashed out at the weakness of know-how in Finnish business operations, it was noted that matters are dealt with - to an excessive degree - according to sectors, when the aim should be to establish cooperation and get a good overall picture. Much would be achieved if experts from different fields would learn to listen to each other and work together.
     The solution that was reached was a merger of the Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economics, and the University of Art and Design Helsinki.
     To advance the project the state granted EUR 500 million, just like that.
     How valuable would increased security for children and young people be?
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 7.11.2008, the first anniversary of the Jokela school massacre.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  First anniversary of Jokela school shootings marked by quiet remembrance (7.11.2008)
  Parents of school killer say son was bullied (6.11.2008)

ANTTI BLÅFIELD / Helsingin Sanomat
antti.blafield@hs.fi