Take action to end bullying in schools

However, I must agree with the National Parent Teacher Association’s (NPTA) president, Zena Ramatali, that such reports lack credibility because principals may be inclined to protect their interests (Newsday, February 14).

The Minister of Education made it clear that school principals are obliged “to ensure the safety of all students.” I support the NPTA’s call for an independent investigation of this particular issue. This can be a first step towards reversal of the bullying culture that pervades many schools in this country, where many students are fearful of attending schools where extortion and savage attacks are the norm.

There has been some research into bullying in TT ’s schools.

The Global School-based Student Health Survey on TT noted in 2007 that 57.3 male and 26.6 percent female respondents reported being bullied, most often by being hit, kicked, pushed, shoved around, or locked indoors.

The researchers observed that this was a worrying trend which required urgent action. In addition, Vidya Lall reported in the Caribbean Journal of Criminology and Social Psychology, vol 12, 2007, that 20 percent of the respondents in her research reported that they did not feel safe at school because they were fearful of bullying. The bullying situation led to the formation of the Anti-Bullying Association of TT by Jeromy Rodriguez in 2014.

The Ministry of Education, on behalf of the Citizen Security Programme, engaged respected criminologist Dr Randy Seepersad to conduct research into bullying in primary schools in north Trinidad.

The 2014 report found that there was growing recognition that bullying and violence are reaching critical levels in the nation’s schools, with 94 percent of respondents reporting that within the past term they had experienced one or more forms of bullying, and 40.4 percent reported that bullies had tried to take money from them.

The first report of a joint select committee of Parliament revealed that in 2015 there were 1,650 cases of assaults with a weapon, without weapons and extorting taxes in secondary schools of TT .

Psychology lecturer Dr Margaret Nakid-Chatoor told the JSC that taxing or extortion of money is one of the most pressing types of bullying in secondary schools (Newsday, April 30, 2016, p 9).

Although there are some who wish to conceal bullying, I am of the view that bullying in schools provides training for future bandits and killers, and I demand that decisive action be taken by the ministry in eradicating this scourge. All law-breaking activities in schools should be taken to the police; principals should be held accountable for bullying in their schools; the curriculum should place more emphasis on peaceful living, and learning activities should be designed to make students aware of the consequences of lawlessness.

In an address at the Magdelena Grand Resort in Tobago on February 22, 2016, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley stated that TT ’s education system is failing students.

Here is an opportunity for Rowley to change this horrendous state of affairs.

David Subran via email