On Monday, this newspaper reported a case of a 10th grade student at Kingston College being beaten unconscious with a steel pipe by schoolmates who attempted to steal his mobile telephone. The boy remains at home with injuries.

Kingston College has chosen to remain largely quiet about the incident, but the boy's father says the case is being prosecuted. It is not clear, however, whether it is a civil or criminal case that is being brought against the attackers. We hope it is both - that the whole book is thrown at the perpetrators and that they are made to feel the full force of the law.

We take this position not because we are callous or unmindful of the potential consequences that criminal convictions will bring to the lives of the young men accused of the crime. Rather, like Minister of Education Andrew Holness, we believe that a line has to be drawn somewhere. The society has to take a stand before it is overwhelmed.

We highlight this Valentine's Day attack, which took place on the Kingston College campus, not because it is the most outrageous, vile or cruel of such incidents. Just recently, at Jamaica College, another of the capital's traditional high schools, one boy stabbed another to death.

These incidents represent a growing pattern of violence in schools, including attacks on teachers by students, over which school administrators, policymakers and parents agonise. In part, the deteriorating behaviour in the classrooms and on school campuses mirrors attitudes in the wider society, with its endemic crime and violence.

We are, therefore, under no illusion that the crisis, which evidences a dysfunctional society, is to be resolved with any single or simple fix. The causes are complex; so too are likely to be the solutions.

But, we are convinced that 'tough love' must be part of the mix. People, including students, must know that there are consequences, sometimes harsh ones, to their actions.

In that regard, we unreservedly back Mr Holness' directive to schools that they turn over to the police for prosecution students found on campuses with offensive weapons. Adults who invade school compounds to attack students and/or teachers should similarly have the book thrown at them.

Mr Holness, of course, did not come to this position lightly. As he reported on Monday, a recent security sweep at one high school in Portmore, St Catherine, netted several knives, ice picks and other weapons. This situation is not unique. Guns are known to have been taken off students on school campuses.

Students often claim that they arm themselves for protection. We, nonetheless, insist that there can be no rationalisation. Such weaponry has no place in schools, where the emphasis ought to be on English, math, history, science and similar subjects rather than the art of war. Violence on school campuses is a deterrence to education.

We, therefore, support the calls for the systematic search of students entering school compounds and urge Minister Holness to move expeditiously on the plan to have metal detectors on school compounds. We also suggest the need for the expansion of the Safe Schools Programme, where specially trained police officers are stationed at schools to help deal with outbreaks of violence. The inconvenience of such measures is outweighed by their value to the society.