Bullies, gangs, weapons, and substance abuse contribute to the violence in T&T’s schools, says security expert Commander Garvin Heerah.
“Violence in our nation’s schools is a legitimate concern for everyone. Likewise, research and statistics regarding juvenile victimization cannot be entirely discounted as mere media sensationalism,” he said.
The former head of the National Operations Centre said recent studies have shown that our school children are frequent victims of theft, extortion or school, property damage, being threatened with or without a weapon. He said the data also shows that many of them have either witnessed or been a victim of bullying; or participated or witnesses cyber bullying and cyber pornography.
He told the T&T Guardian: “Many young people are aware of the dangers that exist within their communities and school environment. It has become acceptable and to a sad extent the norm for our young children to go to bed with the rattle or explosion of sporadic gunfire and awaken having to dodge yellow caution tape, with a marked off crime scene—most of the times a homicide—on their way to school.
“Even worse, many of our children are in neighbourhoods and communities festered with violent behaviour, music and attitudes. These are the same children populating our nation’s schools.”
Commander Heerah said the roots of violence are now deep in the society, tapping into complex conditions such as poverty, racism, joblessness, and hopelessness.
“Each epidemic of violence triggers “knee-jerk” calls for legislation and quick fixes. Often, however, little is done to change conditions that give rise to violent behaviours,” he said. He said the educators by themselves cannot carry out their mandate of educating children while trying to rid their schools and surrounding communities of violence.
To make matter worse, he said, community violence gives rise to subsets of associated violence that impact schools and can be devastating to individual students and learning environments. He said: “Schools that lack effective discipline respect for academic standards and basic humanitarian values falter in their mission to provide safe and effective learning environments.
“Students who live in fear of violence, witness violent acts, or actually become victims of violence suffer an array of consequences ranging from personal injury and debilitating anxiety that interrupt the learning process to a pattern of absence and truancy that can lead to dropping out of school and delinquency. Such disassociation restricts individual options and limits the development of academic and life skills.”
Commander Heerah said the solution to school violence must be holistic, inter-governmental and inter-ministerial.
“We have to move feverishly to remove territoriality and boundaries, stop looking at an isolated approach and begin with immediate effect a collaborative approach that incorporates a team effort,” he said.
“Quite frankly, there must exist, especially at the strategic level, the political will and a zero tolerance to ensure that there is a concentrated effort on this crisis.”