RADHICA DE SILVA
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Former chairman of the Children’s Authority Hanif Benjamin says parents must immediately begin teaching children how to spot a sexual predator.
He was speaking following last week’s revelation by the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) that perverted teachers were operating within local schools.
Benjamin did not want to comment on the JSC report, noting it is not right to pinpoint teachers alone, as other people in authority have taken advantage of innocent children.
“Very rarely, a stranger sexually abuses a child. More likely than not, it’s someone who is known to the child or is trusted by the parent,” Benjamin said.
Explaining the long term consequences of sexual exposure at a young age, Benjamin said: “When a child becomes sexualised, they may see this as how they should behave. They may become a perpetrator later on in life.”
“A child may grow up with trust issues, healthy sexual issues as well. All of those things are lifetime trajectories if a child becomes sexually exposed in the early life,” he added.
He noted that parents had a responsibility to teach their children about sexual abuse and inappropriate sexual activity.
“They should be able to identify good touch and bad touch. They should help children to understand no adult should want to play sexual play with them. You need to be straightforward and have age-appropriate conversations from pre-school to teenager,” he said.
Benjamin recommended parental classes so that people could learn how to speak about sexual abuse with children.
“There are a lot of TV shows that depict school sexual activity in an unhealthy way. We need to be cognizant of what they watch and explain when they ask us a question. We have to help parents to understand how to have a conversation with children. A lot of parents have developed an unhealthy sexual life and they may not be the right person to explain to their children about sexual life,” Benjamin said.
But Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha general secretary Vijay Maharaj said the issue of teachers exposing children to sex was occurring mainly in government schools and not SDMS denominational board schools.
He said the SDMS has been educating children about sex at the parental level and also in schools through the curriculum.
The SDMS controls 13 early childhood care centres, 43 primary schools and five colleges. Maharaj noted that the SDMS conducts a rigid psycho-social assessment of teachers before they are allowed into their schools and this is why there have been no cases of paedophiles entering SDMS schools.
Meanwhile, Presbyterian Primary School Board chairman Vickram Ramlal also said sex education was ongoing.
“When the Children’s Authority was established, the Presbyterian Primary Schools Board of Education held workshops for principals on sexual, physical and mental abuse of children and the provisions of the Children’s Act and the Sexual Offences Act as it pertains to the abuse of children with an emphasis on sexual abuse,” he said.
However, he said now that children are back in school, more should be done.
“Greater emphasis has to be placed on educating our children on the dangers of social media and the possibilities of sexual grooming,” he added.
He noted that the system and regulations for the Ministry of Education and Teaching Service Commission to deal with such allegations of misconduct by teachers are extremely time-consuming and often deter parents from following through on reports of sexual abuse of children. “The recruitment process needs to be reviewed to include a psycho-social profile of applicants and maybe even a certificate of good character from the Police Service,” he added.
Meanwhile, Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said sex education is a matter that has to be discussed at length with educational boards and all stakeholders.
“There is a current initiative to upgrade the curriculum through a collaboration with the UWI and the United Nations but there will be no changes made without that critical consultation with the wider education stakeholders,” she added.
She noted that there are programmes under the Student Support Services Division that address sexual sensitisation.
