Wednesday, November 25 2009

Monday’s stabbing death of a schoolboy, reportedly by another, coming so close after the fatal stabbing of a student on Friday and the violent clash between students of the El Dorado West and East Secondary Schools a week ago represent a disturbing turn in the manner in which some teenaged schoolchildren appear prepared to resolve disputes. The headline in yesterday’s issue of Newsday — “Another student murdered” — encapsulated the troubling turn.

The negative development is frightening. Two weeks ago a female Form Six student of El Dorado West Secondary School was beaten unconscious by students of El Dorado East as she waited on transport at the Priority Bus Route. This was followed up on Monday of last week by another student of El Dorado West being beaten by students of El Dorado East.

In an unrelated incident on the same day, a schoolchild at St James Secondary was hit on the head with a brick when he identified, at the request of a teacher, classmates who were playing with the ringtone of a cellular phone. What is instructive is that immediately before he was assaulted, the 12-year-old Form One student was warned by an angry classmate: “Informers does dead, eh.”

What is taking place in some of the nation’s schools today is a far more serious than mere indiscipline and as other concerned citizens do we believe that the right message must be sent to the clearly lawless few that their actions will not be tolerated by the society. It is not enough for anyone to say that it is part of a worldwide problem. Schoolchildren, who, reportedly, seek to resolve disagreements through the use of violent means, for example, killing or wounding with intent, should be dealt with, depending on their age, as would adults.

A student who goes to school with a dagger or other weapon in his school bag or in his waist cannot advance that this is necessary to help him with his studies. If discovered he should be punished severely. Preventive measures should be effected to ensure that it would be virtually impossible for a schoolboy to enter or leave his school’s compound with a weapon. The call made two days ago by the Head of Police, Northern Division, Senior Superintendent Joseph Edwards, for metal detectors to aid in the crackdown on weapons being brought into schools’ compounds by students should be acted upon by the relevant Government Ministries.

Nonetheless, Snr Supt Edwards’ argument with respect to metal detectors was advanced by others many years ago and should have been acted on as an across the board strategy to prevent students from seeking to take weapons into classrooms.

In addition to the metal detectors, however, spot searches of schoolbags should be conducted as well. Should weapons be discovered parents should be called in and the respective students charged. Parents should make spot checks, not only of their children’s school bags, but of their rooms as well, in addition to checking on their children’s friends. Every bit helps.

It may be argued that the two recent killings of students, allegedly by other students, were reported to have occurred at places removed from their school compounds. Nonetheless, what stands out, re their being killed, is that they were schoolchildren. Whatever became of old fashioned friendly inter-school rivalry in football, cricket, athletics, tennis, swimming and examinations?

There was a time when secondary schoolchildren in Trinidad and Tobago studied and played hard with schools vying with others to see which school would come out on top in examinations, win the most scholarships and emerge champions in Inter Col games. The rivalry still continues.

Unfortunately, it has been and continues to be debased, admittedly by a relative few students, of a dwindling number of schools, mistakenly determined to achieve power, not through beating the books but rather through intimidation, maiming and the use of knives.