The scourge of bullying

The statistics are out of date, but there is enough anecdotal evidence to show that levels of bullying in schools are too high. Time and time again we have seen video circulating on social media of boys and girls fighting. And not just the kinds of rough horseplay of yesteryear, but serious assault.

Several surveys done many years ago, suggested that at least one in five students is bullied. The figure may be much higher.

We call on the authorities – at both the school level and the national level – to investigate the incident at the Mayaro Government Primary School and to take appropriate action.

We note the Education Minister’s statement in this regard yesterday, including his reference to a report from the school principal inferring that the injuries sustained by the boy might have been from horseplay. But the boy’s parents have also indicated that their child was sometimes afraid to go to school because of previous encounters with his alleged attacker.

The investigation, however, may mean the implementation of a strategy and plan to tackle instances of bullying. It may involve counselling for both the victim and the aggressor. Mindful that the attacker is a minor, the authorities will have to weigh heavily what sort of action they will take. The interest of the victim must be strongly considered.

There is a specific system in place to deal with juvenile matters under the law. What cannot occur, however, is a sweeping under the carpet of the issue.

Also worrying are the reports of how the matter was initially handled by the police. Officers turned the victim’s parent away, saying it was a “school matter,” only for other officers to call the same parent later urgently asking for a report.

Why did it have to reach this far for action to be taken in relation to this matter? We must be far more proactive when it comes to this issue. One in five children is a large proportion of the entire school population and the thought of that level of suffering going unaddressed is unconscionable.

Meanwhile, many will question the circumstances that could lead a young person to enact such violence on one of his fellow students.

What must be going through that child’s mind? How could such violence (the victim heard his bone cracking) be so casually inflicted? What does this say about our society? A full investigation will have to be undertaken and, if necessary, rehabilitation applied. There could well be other factors operating in the background to this matter.

We endorse the call of Princes Town MP Barry Padarath for an anti-bullying policy in the Ministry of Education. We also welcome his call for debate on whether parents should be held accountable for the actions of their children under law.

Indeed, the question of violence in schools is related to the question of violence in society as a whole. If children can treat each other with such inhumanity, this does not bode well for crime levels down the road.

Further, there must be an examination of how gender plays a role in these issues. It cannot be permissible for boys to get away with violence and antagonism simply because “boys will be boys.” And we also cannot underestimate the threat posed to girls by female bullies because of outmoded views on the female sex.

Let us take action to deal with bullying.