The statistics are out of date, but there is enough anecdotal evidence to show that levels of bullying in schools are too high.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.

Extract from “Buss Head”, Machel Montano & Bunji Garlin

I NEVER thought I would hear the words “Oni vay” or “Joe Talmana” coming from the mouth of a soca artist.

I was hearing it on the radio and still couldn’t believe it. But then it made sense.

Bunji and Machel, two of the biggest bad-johns in music taking guidance from a young visionary stick fighter — of course they would come up with “Buss Head”.

Of course, they would call the name of the legendary bois man, who it is said in 1881 dismounted Captain Baker from his horse in the fight against the colonial administration to save our Carnival.

Doing battle and Carnival are inextricably linked. Local scholars such as Professors Maureen Warner Lewis and Hollis Liverpool have discredited previous writings which gave the impression that Africans had their own Carnival rituals only after full emancipation in 1838. In fact, Liverpool points out that they maintained their own “festive space” from the early 1800s and even before, as they danced the Kalenda or Kalinda and performed stick fighting movements and songs.

Kalenda songs and rhythmic patterns also influenced calypsonians, for example Growling Tiger, who “grew up in a stick fighting area — Siparia in south Trinidad … In addition to the storytelling tradition of the griot, Warner-Lewis notes that kalenda songs were rebellious.

“Chanting in a warlike manner, in the African call-and-response pattern, the singers boasted of their feats …” and the kalinda was “also a means of settling scores between individuals, gangs and villages.” Many villages such as Moruga, Freeport, Couva, Talparo, Gasparillo are associated with retention of stick fight traditions and rituals.

There are several reasons for this.

It became increasingly difficult to hold the gayelles, traditional stick fighting rings, in Port-of-Spain.

The cultural practices of the Africans spread to communities across the island.

There was also the settlement of Africans from the Kongo in areas such as Freeport. As noted by Warner- Lewis, “dancing in preparation for war was so common in Kongo, that “dancing war dance” … was often used as a synonym for “to declare war.” In Moruga, the element of battle was intensified by the presence of African American soldiers, former enslaved Africans who received freedom and land for fighting with the British during the war of 1812- 1814. The British granted land in their colonies to the soldiers and their families; in Trinidad primarily in Moruga.

The “Merikens”, as these settlers and their descendants are called, brought with them their own strong African traditions of healing.

Undoubtedly, as former soldiers, they would have identified with the warlike nature of the stick fight.

So, we have come full circle, because the artist who was instrumental in writing and producing “Buss Head” is a young bois man heavily influenced by the stick fight practices from Moruga.

It was bound to happen though, the shift away from shallow manifestations of our Carnival to a search for the history and purpose behind the festival. The search will continue, because the ancestors will it to be so. Joe Talmana watching and laughing how they calling his name bold, bold in the Carnival.

But more names have to call.

Watch and see … D a r a Healy is a performance artist and founder of the NGO, the Indigenous Creative Arts Network – ICAN

He jumped on me and threw me to the ground. Then he started to kick and cuff me up. As he jumped up on my elbow and said how he is a ninja turtle.” “He used to tap me up and pass and trip me and things like that all the time. He used to take my lunch money sometimes too.” Tristan said he has made complaints to teachers about the past acts of bullying.

“They talk to the two of us in the office and sent us back to class. That is all.” The Ministry of Education has vowed to launch a full investigation to hear from all relevant parties before making a statement.

Principal of the Mayaro Government Primary School yesterday refused to comment.

Tristan’s mother Shareefa Ali, said Education Minister Anthony Garcia spoke with her yesterday morning and invited her and husband Christopher to a meeting with the other student’s parents. “I don’t want no meeting with them right now,” Christopher Khan said, adding that at no time did the bully student’s parents make any attempt to get in touch with them to see if Tristan was ok, to offer help or even to apologise.

Khan said he receiving advice from a lawyer on how best to proceed.

“This is not the first time.

We do not want this to happen to anybody else’s child,” said Ali.

“We think our son could be a gateway to getting bullying stopped in school.” Ali said Tristan is scheduled to have wires and pins removed next week and his arm put in a new cast. The pins and wires were used to secure the elbow socket to keep it in place during the healing process. Doctors cannot guarantee complete repair of all of Tristan’s nerves, but his family is hoping for the best.

“We would like to say thank you to the doctors and nurses at Sangre Grande Hospital for their wonderful treatment,” said Ali. “We cannot remember the doctor’s name who led the surgery, but thank you and thank you especially to Dr Kristy Metivier who was on the ward overnight and was very helpful to us and our son.” Minister in the Ministry of Education Dr Lovell Francis yesterday said he got a preliminary report from the school principal which is “very different” from the media’s version. He is awaiting an official report from the school’s supervisor on Monday before making further pronouncements.

Speaking in the House of Representatives, Garcia said, “It has not yet been determined that the injuries suffered by this student are as a result of bullying.” He continued, “We have in our possession the report of the principal, who indicated to us there were two Standard One students who were at play.” Garcia added, “We have asked the line supervisor to conduct a thorough investigation into this matter and report to the Ministry of Education by Monday.” He explained that the Education Act, “gives the responsibility to principals and teachers that they must preserve the safety of children.” “If these rules are disregarded, then there are certain measures which must be taken,” Garcia said. Dismissing claims from Princes Town MP Barry Padarath that it would take “the death of a child” before any action is taken on bullying, Garcia reiterated, “We have adequate measures in place to deal with any infraction of discipline.” Earlier in the sitting, Al-Rawi said Government is currently engaged in the, “exercise of the proclamation of the package of amendments that we did to the Children and Family Division Bill.” He said part of those amendments, “intersects with this issue, in particular the matter of children beyond control and other aspects.” Al-Rawi stated, “ I will introduce it immediately to the LRC’s (Legislative Review Committee) table on Monday.

We will treat this with alacrity.” He said the Education Act provides some relief as far as suspension and explusion go. However Al-Rawi said that law does not go as far as dealing with parental responsibility. Identifying several laws which deal with different aspects of parental responsibility, Al-Rawi said, “The issue of parental responsibility is a rather complicated one.” However he underscored Government commitment to look at this issue and find the “best fit” for it. On a separate issue, Garcia said reports that 14 special needs schools were facing imminent closure and government funding for those schools had been cut

His death comes weeks after his mother Sylvia Seecharan passed away last December.

Relatives said Seecharan had not yet gotten over the death of his mother. “They were very close and he missed her a lot and was still grieving for her which was why he spent a lot more time in the garden,” sisterin- law Prematee Seecharan told Newsday.

Police are working on the theory that Seecharan may have been confronted by thieves who often raided his crops. Relatives said Seecharan complained to them about the constant raid on his crops. Seecharan was chopped on the head, face and back. Investigators believe he was killed on the day he went missing.

His body was discovered at 8 pm on Thursday by relatives who went in search of him after calls to his phone went unanswered and his house remained locked.

Seecharan lived alone at Tabaquite Main Road. “We decided to check the garden because that is where he would be when he was not home,” a relative said.

At 8 pm on Thursday, the search party stumbled upon his body 60 feet from the roadway, in his garden.

The victim’s sister Theresa Villafana with whom he shared a close relationship, suffered a heart attack on being told he was found dead and remains warded at San Fernando Teaching Hospital.

“He was quiet and never troubled anyone,” nephew Akbar Shah, 23, said. “It is really terrible how they killed him in his own garden. He worked real hard.” Seecharan cultivated crops including breadfruit, banana, coconut and peewah on his ten-acre plantation. He worked as a labourer with the Ministry of Works in Rio Claro and was unmarried, with no children.

An autopsy was expected to be done yesterday at the Forensic Science Centre in St James.

No arrest has been made in what is the nation’s 56th murder for the year.

The accused mother of two stood in the First Court before Senior Magistrate Nanette Forde-John. She is charged with the November 24 murder of Jenice who lived at Morocoy Extension Road in Whiteland.

Jenice, a pupil of the Whiteland Early Childhood Learning Centre, sustained injuries to her head and stomach at her home on November 24. The child was rushed to San Fernando General Hospital where she died.

WPC Serioux of the Homicide Bureau laid the charge. Yesterday, attorney Frank Gittens requested that the matter be expedited saying he and attorney Chanthal Paul are instructed by attorney Subhas Panday.

Court prosecutor Cleyon Seedan said files have been sent to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for a State attorney to be appointed to prosecute. Only after that, disclosure will be made. The magistrate remanded McLean into custody and adjourned the matter to March 7.

According to reports, officers under the supervision of Snr Supt Radcliffe Boxhill and led by ASP Ajit Persad and including Sgt Anthony Williams along with PCs Sookwah, Persad and Perkins carried out the 12-hour exercise on the Promenade and the Plannings in Port-of-Spain where the 17 people were arrested.

Similar exercises were carried out in the city, prior to the Christmas period last year and the exercises continued throughout January and early February. Senior officers told Newsday that the exercises are meant to deal with illicit activities in the city and to rid the streets of crime.

He said because of the interference from authorities in Trinidad, the island has to go days without a functioning cargo vessel, which is affecting the lives of many Tobagonians especially the business sector.

“We have documentary evidence that there is someone on the board of Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago that are playing games, they do not want the super-fast Galicia to service the people of Tobago,” said Duke who is also president of the Public Services Association (PSA).

“We want to make it absolutely clear to all that Tobagonians are fed-up with Trinidad getting involved in our business, yes the sea bridge is our business, yes the air bridge is our business because for the ordinary person in Trinidad while it is for them an occasion to ‘oh lala lay’, for us an occasion to survive. We are tired and we are not prepared to take it anymore!” He is promising a march in Scarborough to send a signal to Trinidad that, “Tobagonians have had enough of their (Trinis) control.” He is willing to fight to implement new procedures which will allow Tobago to import its own food directly from members of Caricom.

“The superfast Galicia falls under the ambit of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), under the fifth schedule, under number 16 which says Tobago is responsible for both air and sea transportation…then Tobago must have a say.

Otherwise, we will be leaving here and seeking a new relationship with Grenada, Barbados, St Vincent,” Duke said.

Contacted for comment, TT Chamber of Commerce, Tobago Division, Chairman Demi John Cruickshank said, “From next Wednesday, there would be interruptions.

We are waiting on the board of the Port Authority to come back to us on what are the dates (for resumption of sailing).

We are losing a lot of money in Tobago, the business community is screaming because we still have our commitment to the banks, and it’s a serious problem right now to do business in Tobago because of the uncertainty of the vessel.” Asked about the status of the Super-fast Galicia, Minister of Works and Transportation Rohan Sinanan yesterday said, “the boat has been reflagged, last Wednesday and Thursday already and is back on service.

Today the boat returned and it is on route to Tobago as we speak.

So everything is ok, we have no issues at all with it, everything is in place, service is normal.”

Rowley said Deosaran’s committee will submit its report on March 31 for Cabinet’s consideration.

Dillon stated that Acting Commissioner of Police (CoP) Stephen Williams is looking to bolster the strength of the Police Service through the absorption of Special Reserve Police Officers (SRPs) into the Service.

He explained the SRPs must meet selected criteria and this includes taking polygraph tests.

Dillon was unable to indicate how many SRPs have been absorbed into the Police Service to date.

Young made this point in his contribution to debate on the bill in the House of Representatives yesterday. Indicating the bill is the identical one which the former People’s Partnership (PP) government allowed to lapse during its tenure, Young said the legislation is, “necessary on a global and a national level because the industry is vulnerable to infiltration by money launderers and terrorist financing.”

He said the bill will establish a Gaming Commission which will rein in what, “so far seems to be a runaway horse and seems to be breeding, harbouring, money laundering operations and the potential for terrorist financing.” Young stated the Commission will, “aid in minimising the potential for money laundering and terrorist financing, due to the stringent criteria that will have to be met by anyone desirous of obtaining a licence.”

Saying the Commission is modelled after a similar body in the United Kingdom, Young said it will share information with entities and individuals such as the Board of Inland Revenue, Commissioner of Police, Financial Intelligence Unit, Customs and Excise Division and the Integrity Commission, among others. He said the Commission’s powers will be identical to those of its British counterpart, including preventing the exploitation of children by gambling. Noting the invaluable revenue that a properly regulated gaming industry can bring to TT, Young said the legislation as drafted by the PP was “silent on online gambling.”

However, he observed there is provision for Finance Minister Colm Imbert to make an order subject to affirmative resolution of Parliament to amend the section to allow online gambling.” Young said while the Opposition made much ado about nothing about copying legislation, the reality was that Government saw it as important to put this legislation on the country’s law books. He also observed the public is, “seeing some hesitancy by those on the other side on occasion to agree to legislation that we believe is better for TT.” Earlier in the sitting, Chaguanas West MP Ganga Singh said the bill was designed to move gambling, “from sin to fun” as he remembered former Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s views on gambling. He questioned the method whereby Gaming Laboratories International was selected as the consultant on the legislation and the method of taxation on various gaming devices.

Singh charged the local banking sector abused indigenous entrepreneurs who wanted to get involved in the gambling industry. He also alleged there were cases where banks in other jurisdictions were