Time to tackle school violence

The level of school violence currently being displayed amongst Barbadian children, is reaching an alarming peak and should be more than cause for concern.

Within the last few months especially, we have read the reports and are all aware of the vicious attacks some school aged youngsters are carrying out on their peers, to the detriment of the victims firstly, who are physically maimed and scarred, but also those witnessing these violent, brazen acts.

Of late, the hot topic is the number of stabbing incidents school children have been involved in. Coupled with that is information coming to hand, that a number of students are arming themselves with weapons as they journey to and from school. It seems we are now having “battle grounds”, rather than “school grounds” at some of our educational institutions and the war continues apparently away from school premises, even in school buses. This is a sad state of affairs, no doubt.

We are all accustomed to a school fight here and there. Social media brings almost every skirmish into our homes, via that piece of technological equipment we refer to as the cellphone. What is frightening now however, is that students are no longer using their fists or even rocks to inflict harm, they are opting for knives and other bladed tools, reserved primarily for use in the kitchen or garden or the general household.

That said, school is a microcosm of the society and given that we have seen unprecedented levels of violence displayed at the level of our society, we should take note of what is really occurring at present. The violence seems to be spilling over into the schools. Yes, we have heard that the issue of school violence needs to be addressed in the past, but it would seem that students themselves are sending a clear message now that the matter needs to be tackled and we should listen and act, before some of our students end up six feet deep.
It is time we put politics aside. It is time the Ministry and the unions representing teachers try to work together to tackle full on the frightening issue of school violence, despite their differences. It is time more families take greater responsibility for what they are producing, in terms of their child rearing practices and seek help for those who need it. It is time we embrace the organisations already trying to make a difference in schools, by addressing issues such as bullying and aggression. It is high time we as adults lead the way, displaying greater conflict resolution skills for the youth watching on. If adults can’t get it right, how can the children?

Finally, it is time we bring on stream an institution that can take in a number of juvenile delinquents and those who exhibit early tendencies for such, so some of these violent students who have the potential to change negatives into positives, can get a reality check and turn their lives around, before the inevitable happens. Her Majesty’s Prison Dodds awaits those who leave school to continue on with such violent tendencies, but alas, it is way too full. We can’t and won’t be able to save all, but we must do something before schools turn into somewhat of a scene from the Wild West, as has been the experience of some schools overseas.

Barbados Advocate

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