School wars are back with a vengeance. With each passing year, it manifests itself stronger and harsher than ever, all over sports. Students of St Joseph’s, Bishop Cotton’s and St Germaine’s are at war when it comes to hockey, football and cricket. But things have gotten worse in the recent past. Last week, a student was attacked with a hockey stick after his team won a tournament. Is such violence necessary to show loyalty to your alma mater?

James Prashanth, a student of St Joseph’s says, “This kind of violence is unnecessary, and there have been some extreme cases. I’ve witnessed buses being vandalised and stones being thrown at kids. When I attended a football match a couple of years ago, I saw many cops around and that kept several trouble makers at bay.”

Former students of these institutions believe that the violence has been taken to another level in the past few years. Kenneth Manoj, a former hockey player from St Joseph’s, who coached the winning team says, “The cops sometimes end up instigating some of the kids. Anyway, tempers fly and passion runs high but I feel the seniors can control the juniors better. In our time, we never hurt anyone physically.”

But most students enjoy watching such matches, irrespective of the hint of violence that may hang around. Tarun Srivatsan, a student of Bishop Cotton Boys School says, “It gives me great pride to watch my seniors play against our arch rivals at any sport. We usually abuse and scream at the opponents, and loudly cheer our team. Sometimes we throw eggs and pelt stones. But it’s not cool to harm anyone physically to the extent of injuring them.”

The age-old school rivalries reign supreme this year too, but violence is certainly not the way to show your loyalty.