LETTER OF THE DAY - VIOLENCE IN OUR SCHOOLS

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I AM deeply concerned about the levels of violence and aggressive
behaviour among our students.

Violence exists in our schools, in perhaps all our schools and in a
way, we probably are too afraid to admit. Like the national
statistics, many cases are simply not reported. Cases of fights
involving various weapons occur on a daily basis. Weapons may include
anything such as knives or ice-picks. The principal's office is kept
busy throughout the day.

LOST GENERATION

Our children are angry, very angry. They are angry because they feel
abandoned. Many of our children have been left to fend for themselves
because their parents are not home. They will shortly become the lost
generation. Their parents reside in the United Kingdom, in the
United States, in the Cayman Islands. Some do not even know where
they are, and who they are. Many walk with cellphones and that is
their only point of contact. They wait for a call from mom or dad.
The cellular children are here to stay. They are unstable, they are
lonely, they are angry, their parents are not at home, they are in
distant lands. Of course, some parents are home, but just cannot
manage or simply do not care. The teacher has all the answers.

Some of these children have spent short periods abroad and have been
told they will rejoin mom and dad or both as soon as they finish
school. And so, they have finished school, for in their minds they
are merely occupying a waiting area until the day of departure
comes. For some, the departure will come in one year's time, for
others it will be two or three or even five years time; for others,
that day will never come.

CHILDREN ARE ANGRY

Our children are angry because a parent is dead and they were not
properly counselled through the period of grief; they were expected
to carry on with their lives with a void that has never been filled.
The empty space, they cannot handle, they therefore fill it with
anger, some with resentment, some with a mission to get attention by
any means possible, some could not care less whether the world is
turning or not.

Drugs abound in our communities all over the island, and are readily
available to our children. School children are lucrative clients for
small drug peddlers. Many of our students especially our boys are
using substances, we know not what. One thing is sure; the minds of
many are altered. Schools without perimeter fences have all the
avenues and alcoves and secret spots where boys can gather and use
ganja or whatever they choose and return to class after lunch, ready
to battle with peers or teachers, or just to fall asleep on their
desks.

They take drugs in their bags, in their shoes, in their pockets,
wherever they feel it will be safely hidden. Too much of the
teaching/learning time is spent solving issues between children and
children, or children and teachers. Is it any wonder that larger
numbers are left behind if they survive for five years in school?

TRADITION

The carrying of knives by some students is a major concern for all
schools. It is fast becoming a tradition in every kind of school.
Recently, I learnt that a huge knife was taken from a grade six boy
in a small primary school. He was angry and had threatened to stab a
boy whom he considered a bother to him. Knives are hidden in secret
spots along the way by those who walk to school in the rural areas.
They retrieve them for fights after school.

The safe school programme is an excellent concept and will bear
fruits if the officer assigned will take up a position on the
compound on a daily basis. Parents and guardians must begin to
exercise greater levels of interest in their children, and visit the
school plant more often to see how their children are performing.
Some only go when they are sent for. They must know what they are
taking in those bags, they must be made accountable. We must save our
children, and the day of salvation is now!

I am, etc.,

LOUISE CLARKE

Principal

Winston Jones High SchoolMore Letters