Youth and Sports Minister Erick Thohir supports the holding of the Arena Selatan Championship, an inter-high school student boxing championship, as a solution to reduce brawls among students.
"This is extraordinary. How young people, high school and junior high school students, care about violence among teenagers. They held this event out of awareness and as an effort to find a solution to the brawls among students," said Erick Thohir at the opening of the Arena Selatan Championship at the Bulungan Sports Hall in South Jakarta on Saturday.
The Minister of Youth and Sports stated that his ministry fully supports the implementation of this positive sporting event. Furthermore, the event aligns with his ministry's mission to develop patriotic, persistent, and empathetic youth.
According to him, besides being a competition space, the championship is also a form of empathy for students to provide solutions to social conditions that are often marked by brawls among young people or students.
Furthermore, it's also a form of empathy for parents, as violence among adolescents is detrimental to families. "This is something I truly appreciate," he said.
"I strongly support positive programs like this. I just came today to see what the championship is like. After this, we will synergize the program," he said.
He hopes that more such activities will be held to have a wider impact on society, especially reducing the brawls that often occur among students.
On that occasion, the Minister of Youth and Sports also invited the championship organizers to attend the 2025 Indonesia Sports Summit (ISS) which will be held at the Indonesia Arena, Gelora Bung Karno Complex, December 6-7.
Through ISS 2025, he said, the initiators of the Arena Selatan Championship can more widely spread goodness and provide information about sports activities that provide solutions to social problems.
In addition to opening and watching the matches, the Minister of Youth and Sports also inspected security and order during the championship. According to him, the committee, comprised of high school and junior high school students, had complied with all technical and non-technical procedures necessary to ensure the event's smooth running.
Meanwhile, Member of the Indonesian House of Representatives Bambang Soesatyo, who was also present to accompany the Minister of Youth and Sports to open the Arena Selatan Championship event, also appreciated the students' initiative in holding the championship.