With more than ten violent outbursts at the Tabaquite Secondary School on Thursday, school officials were forced to call the police.
None of the students were eventually arrested but a few were injured, including the 16-year-old daughter of Aretha Horsley.
Videos showing snippets of the fights have since gone viral on social media. There were fights—the majority amongst female students—in the classrooms and across the compound.
In one of them, a student was captured breaking the louvre panes to a classroom with violent kicks.
Horsely returned to school with her daughter yesterday. She said police officers, Ministry of Education officials and Student Support Services personnel were at the school and spoke with the students about their behaviour.
Horsley recalled that on Thursday, she was returning home from work when the principal, Sherry-Ann Boodram, called and informed her about the incident.
The mother said, “She (daughter) was hit in her face, she was struck in her face once and then struck in her face again, which would have caused damage to two of her permanent tooth to the front.”
Defending the principal, who has been criticised on social media, she said the principal and teachers are trying, but parents must take charge of their children.
“The ministry, the Minister of Education, by extension the principal, the teaching staff, all those persons who take the time to really and truly try to implement things the best that they could to assist these children; the parents have to start working with the school, along with the teachers, along with the ministry in order to get help, especially for the students who may have issues and things going on that causing them to behave in this manner. We, as parents, have to take responsibility for our children’s actions. We can no longer keep looking at somebody else to do our jobs,” she said.
Contacted yesterday, Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly explained that the incident began at lunch time with a disagreement between two Form One female students.
“This was quelled by the intervention of teachers, but those two students, in the presence of teachers, got into a verbal altercation with others, and despite the warning of the teachers present, engaged in fights. The students were separated and the lunch period was ended,” she said.
While the roll was being taken after lunch, however, she said Form One female students who were involved in the fights during the lunch period entered a Form Three class, in full view of the teacher, and despite her warnings, began to fight students in the class.
The minister said two Form Four female students also joined the fight in the classroom, which was broken up by the teacher, an MTS guard and a Cadet officer.
“A female visitor, identified as a parent of one of the fighting students, was also present in the classroom. She was visibly upset and behaved in a threatening manner to one of the students, who responded by kicking out a window to escape the classroom.”
The minister said suspension notices will be served to the students who initiated the fights, and all students will receive the attention of the Student Support Services, including counselling, home visits and parent meetings.
She said the entire student body was addressed yesterday at assembly about discipline and conduct as well as the repercussions for fighting and other behaviours, as identified by the National School Discipline Matrix and the Schools’ Code of Conduct.
Gadsby-Dolly added that the Forms One and Two classes were specifically engaged by guidance officers about bullying, life choices and decision-making.
The minister added that parent conferences have been requested and will be attended by School and Student Support Officials, and the TTPS to determine all the facts which gave rise to the situation.
Meanwhile, Tabaquite MP Anita Haynes reiterated calls to the Education Ministry to implement targeted interventions to address school indiscipline and violence.
In a release, Haynes said, “In the past two months, there have been multiple incidents of school violence in two secondary schools in the Tabaquite constituency. I have also received reports of bullying and student indiscipline from concerned parents who are legitimately worried for their children’s safety.”
She said the nationwide issue of school violence requires action that is equally widespread.
“We need to make key interventions through school curricula, such as the introduction of conflict resolution and emotional regulation courses. Through such interventions, combined with a properly resourced Student Support Services Division and the provision of reliable counselling services, children can receive the tools required to better navigate their circumstances. Rather than criminalising our students and focusing on punitive measures at the end of the line, we can adopt proactive policies that reduce the likelihood of violent outbursts altogether.”