Cathedral melee a ‘trivial matter?’

THE EDITOR: While it was disgraceful that two secondary school students should have fought in the Trinity Cathedral, nonetheless it should have been unthinkable for their principal, to have dismissed it as “a trivial matter.” He sends all the wrong signals to other schoolchildren, whether secondary or primary. It was a highly insensitive statement, not only because of where the fight took place, but the troubling incidence of ongoing student violence as well.

Here was a situation in which two teenaged girls, rather than respecting a place of worship, themselves and their school and perhaps reflecting either on the possibility of moving on to the Advanced Level stage, or what life after school would hold for them, instead were rowing as to which of them should sit in a specific seat. At the same time, it is incredible that the school should have encouraged such a bad image of itself that the Police should have been able to comment after the fracas that the fight at the Holy Trinity Cathedral was merely an extension of almost weekly complaints of violence at the school over the last two to three years.

Was the principal’s off the cuff remark really meant to convey that what had happened at the Cathedral was trivial when compared with the violence which the Police had pointed out to had been taking place over a period of time? What action had the principal taken to lessen and, eventually, prevent the violence? Had he reported the alleged acts of violence to the Ministry of Education as well as held discussions with the parents of those students who had been involved directly in the violence? If so, what had been the response by officials of the Education Ministry and the parents? Had they demonstrated a feeling of not wanting to be bothered and wishing that it would all go away. But it has not gone away and will not go away unless firm and positive corrective measures are decided upon and implemented.

D L ALLEYNE
Diego Martin