When i used to go Pres man used to get 'taxed' by some miscreants from other schools..a lil 5 dollars here etc. it wasn't nutten big and i dont remember man gettin beat down. these fellars now moving dread.
this article is in today's Guardian
School bullying has taken on a violently new dimension as roaming gangs of students are now preying on their peers with weapons and subjecting them to group “beatdowns.”
“School tax” has now been replaced by extremely vehement physical assaults, with robberies of expensive cellphones and electronics replacing demands of money by attackers.
And, many are calling for swift justice for these “schoolboy criminals,” as police officers are being solicited to catch and lock them up.
Two such incidents of this school-on-school violence have made headlines in the media over the past few days.
On Wednesday, Central Division police officers reportedly visited Chaguanas Junior Secondary after pupils from the nearby Senior Comprehensive allegedly stormed into the school and attacked several students with bottles and sticks.
Also last week, teachers at the Arima Government Secondary School demanded police patrols after students reported that they were robbed after leaving the school’s compound.
A letter to the editor published in Thursday’s Guardian, authored by an irate mother of a St Mary’s College student, claimed that: “Hooligans from other schools are targeting CIC students and attacking and robbing them.”
Teachers from Chaguanas Junior Secondary have denied the incident while officials at St Mary’s College refused comment, citing a Ministry of Education policy that all queries from the media be directed to the district supervisor.
The events of robbery, beatings and or bullying, however, were not denied by the school’s administration.
“Some schools may be attempting to protect their reputation by sweeping the matter under the rug but they need to realise that this is not the way to deal with the matter. They need to inform the police so that they can deal with it,” said Clyde Permell, president of the Trinidad & Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA).
“What we are finding is that some people who do these things are travelling in gangs so they feel stronger,” said Permell.
When the Guardian paid a visit to St Mary’s College, Pembroke Street, Port-of-Spain, last Thursday, the school’s security guard kept watch over exiting students from a position obliquely opposite the school.
A student pointed out this was a recent occurrence after a few of his classmates were robbed.
The Form Six student claimed schoolmates were often robbed in the vicinity of the school more than twice a week.
This school term has been “the worst” he added.
“Well the ones who get robbed often are those who are very flashy with their phones.
“Like if they walk outside of the school while on the phone or if their IPods are showing, they get robbed by the time they reach the corner,” he explained.
A victim of a beating by a group of five Tranquility Government Secondary School students, while in Form Two, he, unlike other students, reported the matter to the police and the individuals were “dealt with by the police officers.”
Now the student attackers are often from Belmont Intermediate School or wear plain clothes, he said.
Money is hardly ever part of their demands, he added.
“We have to put a stop to this immediately and the police must get involved and the Ministry of National Security must get involved right now,” said National Parent/ Teacher Association (NPTA) president Zena Ramatali.
“If that is being done then these are criminal acts and these young people need to be counselled in order to get along with their peers from other schools.
“If you are looking at robbing and grievous bodily harm then they should be dealt with by the police,” she said.
Ramatali disagreed, however, with the idea of jail time for these students, instead she lobbied for rehabilitation after and conflict resolution classes before the incidents occur.
“We want the Ministry of Education to strongly implement these values in an education programme in all schools and the health and family life education programme...the current curriculum does not push these as rigorously as we would like,” said Ramatali.
“I think everybody here will have to get involved now the home, the community, the Ministries of Education, Social Development and National Security,” she added.
Permell conversely has called for: “The return of the community police system.”
“If we are serious about protecting our children then we need to return to a system of community policing.”
He added if students were found to be committing crimes: “(Then) definitely these young attackers need to go through the justice system.”
