Padarath: Hold parents responsible for children’s indiscipline

This comes on the heels of an incident where a Mayaro school boy was hospitalised after allegedly being attacked by schoolmates.

He called on Attorney General Faris Al Rawi and Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to consider bringing to the Parliament a Parental Responsibility Act which, he believes, would force changes in the society and reduce the number of young people turning to a life of crime.

Padarath also urged the Ministry of Education to implement anti-bullying measures in our nation’s schools.

He said he was deeply disturbed by the incident involving the nine-year-old Mayaro student who sustained a broken arm while in school.

Saying this incident is not an isolated one, amid reports of bullying in several of our nation’s schools, Padarath said the Ministry of Education must provide a safe environment at all schools.

“They must establish anti- bullying policies now,” he urged.

Padarath said this is also a long-term measure to deal with the escalating crime situation in terms of identifying and treating with deviant behaviour. “To ignore it and allow it to grow in the school system without addressing the issue will have greater implications later on.” Padarath said he believes incidents of bullying in schools are severely unreported and he is calling on the Ministry to provide support to the victims as well. He urged the Ministry to address the role of schools in preventing bullying, establish general rules for improving the overall school climate, including laying down the consequences of bullying behaviour and intervention at a school level, class level and personal intervention.