Chester Sam­bra­no

Lead Ed­i­tor - News­gath­er­ing

chester.sam­bra­no@guardian.co.tt

Stu­dents in­volved in school fights could face crim­i­nal charges if po­lice in­ves­ti­ga­tions un­cov­er suf­fi­cient ev­i­dence, In­spec­tor Kurt Cal­len­der has warned.

Speak­ing on CNC3’s Morn­ing Brew yes­ter­day, Cal­len­der said school fights are of­fences and are treat­ed by the Trinidad and To­ba­go Po­lice Ser­vice (TTPS) like any oth­er re­port­ed of­fence.

“In­ves­ti­ga­tors are go­ing to be ap­point­ed, and in­ves­ti­ga­tion is go­ing to take place,” Cal­len­der said.

He said af­ter in­ves­ti­ga­tors sub­mit their re­ports and rec­om­men­da­tions, in­struc­tions could be giv­en for stu­dents to be charged where there is suf­fi­cient ev­i­dence.

Cal­len­der stressed that chil­dren are not im­mune from pros­e­cu­tion. He said po­lice can ar­rest chil­dren over the age of eight who com­mit of­fences in pub­lic spaces, in­clud­ing stu­dents who leave school com­pounds to fight.

“Once the po­lice of­fi­cers ar­rive on the scene there, and they see a fight, be­cause fight­ing is an of­fence,” he said.

He said a fight could con­sti­tute as­sault and, de­pend­ing on the cir­cum­stances, lead to more se­ri­ous of­fences such as wound­ing or wound­ing with in­tent.

Cal­len­der said of­fi­cers deal­ing with chil­dren who come in­to con­flict with the law are guid­ed by the Chil­dren’s Judges Rules and the Chil­dren’s Act.

Once a child is ar­rest­ed, the par­ent, guardian or per­son re­spon­si­ble for the child must be no­ti­fied, along with the Chil­dren’s Au­thor­i­ty. If the child is to be charged, the in­ter­view must take place in the pres­ence and hear­ing of a par­ent, guardian or re­spon­si­ble adult.

Cal­len­der al­so urged par­ents to take an ac­tive role in keep­ing their chil­dren safe dur­ing the school year.

For chil­dren en­ter­ing a new school, he ad­vised par­ents to ac­com­pa­ny them on their first jour­ney and ex­plain the route. If they can­not do so dai­ly, he rec­om­mend­ed ar­rang­ing for a trust­ed adult, friend or fam­i­ly mem­ber to ac­com­pa­ny the child un­til the route be­comes fa­mil­iar.

He al­so urged par­ents to arrange fixed or ap­proved trans­porta­tion and warn chil­dren against ac­cept­ing rides from strangers. Par­ents should agree on ar­rival and de­par­ture times, con­firm with the school who is au­tho­rised to col­lect their child and en­sure chil­dren know how to con­tact them if trans­porta­tion does not ar­rive.

Cal­len­der urged par­ents to watch for signs that their chil­dren may be ex­pe­ri­enc­ing bul­ly­ing, in­clud­ing re­luc­tance to at­tend school, un­ex­plained in­juries, miss­ing or dam­aged be­long­ings, with­draw­al from fam­i­ly and friends, changes in sleep or ap­petite and a sud­den de­cline in school­work.

He en­cour­aged par­ents to speak with their chil­dren reg­u­lar­ly and lis­ten with­out judge­ment, while re­port­ing con­cerns to school ad­min­is­tra­tion.

Cal­len­der al­so ap­pealed to adults who wit­ness chil­dren fight­ing or be­ing bul­lied to in­ter­vene ap­pro­pri­ate­ly rather than sim­ply record­ing the in­ci­dent, while cau­tion­ing them not to put them­selves in dan­ger.

He urged par­ents not to ex­cuse or de­fend their chil­dren’s bad be­hav­iour.

“It is al­ways bet­ter for a child to spend five min­utes in naughty cor­ner than to spend five years in jail,” Cal­len­der said.