SHALIZA HASSANALI
Senior Investigative Reporter
Shaliza.hassanali@guardian.co.tt
For three years, Denzel John (not his real name) has been enduring bullying at his South-based secondary school. His older brother, Isaiah (not his real name), also went through his entire secondary life being bullied.
Their mother, Kanisha John (name also changed), has been at her wit’s end, stating that the school and police did nothing to help her sons.
Now in Form Five, Denzel, 17, admitted he wanted to end his life because he saw no way out of the verbal and physical abuse from his peers. Denzel is frequently called “stupid and b*****man” by students, which hurts him.
“Yes, I thought about suicide after my brother and I were attacked and beaten by 11 students in my classroom in October of 2022,” Denzel said during an interview last Wednesday.
Luckily, Denzel confided in his mother. “We started to pray and go to church to help us through our difficult times.”
Many of the students in the school, he said, thrive on teasing and taunting students. Denzel said Isaiah was bullied for five years by a gang of boys who were left untouched. He too became a victim in Form Three when 11 students attacked him one morning. He never reported the matter to the principal or form teacher due to fear.
“My brother found out about the attack and came into my classroom to check up on me,” he said. The attackers followed Isaiah and locked the classroom door. The brothers were badly beaten. Denzel was struck on his back with a metal chair. Isaiah lost consciousness after being hit in the head with a chair.
“Denzel had to pretend he was dead for the boys to leave him alone,” Kanisha recalled.
Only one of the bullies was suspended for seven days. The school, Denzel said, never provided counselling to him. Kanisha said she wrote numerous reports to the school and reported the matter to the Siparia Police Station.
“They were a total failure in addressing the issue,” the 43-year-old mother said. Kanisha, a single parent who works in a food establishment to make ends meet, said the abuse disrupted Isaiah’s education.
“After he sat the CSEC examinations and got his results, he never showed me his grades. He is now working in a grocery,” she said.
On Tuesday, Kanisha said Denzel encountered another bullying incident that left him shaken.
“The boys came looking for another fight. The bullying would die down and flare up. Denzel was so angry and fed up that he told me he’s not going back to school.” Kanisha had to dissuade him.
“I don’t feel safe sending him to school,” the distraught mother said. “All I want is for my son to get an education,” she pleaded.
‘A wake-up call for the entire nation’
The John family is one of many who came forward following the death of 15-year-old Jayden Lalchan, who died by suicide as a result of bullying.
Behavioural Change Consultant Franklyn Dolly said Lalchan’s death disturbed him on many levels.
Lalchan’s death by suicide was to free himself, Dolly said. “That was the only alternative he saw. Why did this happen? This should be a wake-up call for the entire nation.”
Dolly said T&T should not push this tragic incident under the carpet.
“Jayden had the school, parents, relatives, and community, and yet still the whole society failed this boy.”
The homophobic slurs directed at Lalchan, Dolly said, would have been a very painful and traumatic experience for him. “It’s as painful as if you hit someone ...” he said. He said bullying was sometimes perceived as “toughing up a boy” who is seen as sheltered, protected and different.
However, Dolly said it was a criminal offence.
“And to date, I don’t know anybody who has been put before the court for bullying. We tried to treat it as delinquent behaviour and try to do nice things with them (offenders) to get them on board.”
Dolly said it was time to take harsher measures on bullies who hurt and harm people. “I think we need to set an example where we put somebody before the court for bullying to scare people.”
He said the court, in its wisdom, can adjudicate. “The court has many options they can take.”
He said keeping bullying quiet has not worked. “We have to escalate it. There is a loophole somewhere. We have to find it.”
In the last five years, Dolly said, he has seen an increase in children with anger because they don’t know how to deal with conflicts and family issues and cope with real-life situations.
How the system fails children–Jayden’s plight needs independent probe
Lawrence Arjoon, the chief executive of Heroes Foundation (HF), said an independent probe should be done to determine where the system failed Lalchan.
“In reflection of this tragedy, we must face a difficult truth ... we have failed Jayden. Many of the issues at play here are wider, persistent, systemic problems in our society that we need to address comprehensively. I think there definitely needs to be an independent investigation into what has happened so we could understand where the failures were, understand where the gaps are, and identify what needs to be done to start closing those gaps quickly and effectively,” Arjoon told the Sunday Guardian at his Woodbrook office on Thursday.
Arjoon, who admitted that he cried when he heard about Lalchan’s death, does not ascribe blame to anyone for Lalchan taking his life due to bullying. The incident, he said, threw him back to his secondary school days where he was subjected to bullying, something he was unable to escape even in the corporate world.
“What we see is a reflection of what happens in the wider society; we see it at all levels … in the Parliament, political platforms, and on social media.”
Arjoon said the onus was on the Government to appoint people to investigate what went wrong. He said only through careful analysis of the regulatory framework can T&T prevent another life from being lost.
“There have been numerous independent investigations triggered by the State. It is important to bring in people who are not necessarily part of the system and who are not necessarily involved in the situation so there can be new, fresh, independent eyes there.”
He said Lalchan’s death should not have happened. “There are issues—real issues—that are in place and affecting young people. The longer we take to make adjustments or fix the problem or to overhaul things that aren’t working in our favour or for the benefit of the people of T&T, the more problems we are going to experience.”
The problem cannot be addressed by the ministry alone. “What is required is swift collaboration and data-driven action. It highlights the need to take a deeper look at the root causes of bullying.”
And unless there is honesty about the issues and a commitment to act collaboratively, Arjoon said, T&T would continue to fail other children.
Following allegations that Lachan, a St Stephen’s College Form Four student, ended his life on October 3, Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said the T&T Police Service has begun an investigation and the ministry will collaborate in any way required.
Gadsby-Dolly noted that T&T has a national culture of bullying.
Over the years, she said, children have taken their lives, stating that this was a national problem that needed to be confronted. Between 2019 and 2021, nine secondary school students who were clinically diagnosed with depression died by suicide.
Also, a total of 63 secondary school students and 22 primary school pupils who were clinically diagnosed as being depressed have died, but the period was not given during a 2022 Joint Select Committee on Social Service on Public Administration.
The data was provided by the ministry’s Student Support Services Division, which showed that more female students were diagnosed with clinical depression between 2020 and 2021. While the ministry has programmes and policies in place, Arjoon said they must be measured to determine success or failure.
Heroes Foundation, he said, works and interacts with principals, teachers, and guidance counsellors, many of whom are excellent in their jobs. He said some of these educators should not be working in the school system.
The main complaint students register Arjoon said “is that adults fail to listen to them” and they are excluded from conversations that directly affect them.”
In 2022, a survey by Heroes involving 200 youngsters showed that 95 per cent were at risk of behavioural problems and had difficulty managing their emotions.
Boys are bullied more than girls
A 2019 report by the Silver Lining Foundation of T&T on Bullying and Gender-Based Violence in Secondary Schools states that boys experienced bullying more than girls.
The report, written by Krystal Ghisyawan, was based on a survey of 2,284 students in 39 schools. Of all the students surveyed, 19.2 per cent admitted to using obscene language, threatening behaviours, and intimidation.
The report showed that 75 per cent of students engaged in bullying. In looking at the reasons children were bullied, 15 per cent of students were bullied for their ability, 25 per cent for appearance, 14 per cent for sexual orientation, and 14 per cent for gender expressions.
Another stated that 54.57 per cent of students did not share their bullying experience with anyone.
She said the most common insults were homophobic, as boys were called “b*****man” among other derogatory terms.
Girls were branded promiscuous and also referred to in derogatory terms.
Students were also harassed for being “fat and smelly.” She cited verbal bullying as the most prevalent.
Emerging from the report was that at least one in five students reported experiencing physical violence in school, and less than one in three resorted to hitting and pushing others.
Ghisyawan said the report was triggered following the death of George Kazanjian, 16, a student of St Mary’s College in 2011.
Kanzanjian was found hanging from a rope at his Maraval home. Describing Lalchan’s death as “tragic and utterly shameful,” Ghisyawan said bullying was a reflection of society, stating that we needed a cultural shift.
“What we can see from Jaden’s (Lalchan) experience is that he felt alone. If he wasn’t alone, he would not have done this. Bullying is a nationwide problem that needs a nationwide solution.”
One thing Ghisyawan said schools lacked was data on bullying.
“There must be a repository for school officials to understand how many instances have occurred in our schools. That must be done across the board for all schools and all levels. If we don’t have a clear picture of what the problem is ... it would make it a lot more difficult to tackle.”
As it stands, she said no one knows the true extent of bullying in the country. However, based on social media posts and media reports, Ghisyawan said there was a lot of bullying taking place.
Former education minister Garcia says no to corporal punishment
Former education minister Anthony Garcia said a feeling of sadness gripped his body when he heard about Lalchan’s death.
“Suicide is something we can never get accustomed to.” He said that when children are forced to end their lives by suicide, “it tells us that something is definitely wrong. It is so unfortunate. For someone to take his life, that has to be an ultimate act.”
Garcia viewed bullying as an American phenomenon that T&T has been patterning.
He said it makes no sense to reintroduce corporal punishment in schools because our society is becoming more violent.
“Now we can’t even think about reintroducing corporal punishment. I can’t help emphasising enough the fact that we don’t have the support systems like before.” He said schools were regarded as communities and sanctuaries where everyone took ownership and looked out for one another.
“We knew whatever happened to us; we had that support there from our teachers, principal, and parents. Sadly, that is lacking.”
When asked about the bullying policy in schools, Garcia said Gadsby-Dolly was doing her best to ensure that bullying was kept to a minimum.
“There are policies now in place in the schools that deal with bullying. To a large measure, it is getting some success. I want to make the point that it is not the fault of the Ministry of Education. It is the fault of the entire society.”
Garcia said if Lalchan had the support of the wider community, it would not have reached this far. “Some years ago, we were very embracing.”
“The schools are a microcosm of the wider society. And what goes on in the wider society is now reflected in the school. Yes, I would say that the school has failed the boy,” he added.
The ministry’s Code of Conduct on bullying
On the Education Ministry’s website, its Code of Conduct listed four types of bullying: physical, social, verbal, and cyber, stating that it promotes prosocial and acceptable standards of behaviour to be displayed and enjoyed by adults and students in schools.
It also encourages equality of treatment for all students. The ministry recommends several consequences for bullying: suspension for up to seven days, which could be extended, referral to a learning enhancement centre, law enforcement agencies, and expulsion.