Bullied 13-year-old afraid of returning to school

A 13-year-old form one student of Success Laventille Secondary School had to be escorted from the school compound to his taxi stand on Friday, after fellow students placed a bag over his head and beat him in one of the toilets on Wednesday.

Newsday spoke with the boy on Friday afternoon and he no longer wants to go to school. He said he used to look forward to school to play football and basketball.

“I don’t want to go back to school at all. I like school, I was always happy to go to school.”

During the beating, $5 was stolen was him. The attack was one of a series against the child who was taught a mantra by the bullies, “A dollar a day keeps the devil away.”

The daily extortion dubbed “tax” has been happening since the school term began in September, but it was only after the beating on Wednesday that the child broke down in front of his mother and teachers and told them what happened.

The boy’s mother said she wants her son out of the school and will visit the Ministry of Education on Monday to discuss the matter. She said when she went to the school on Thursday, teachers asked her son why he chose to use that particular toilet knowing that there is usually gambling and other wrongdoings taking place there.

Police were called in by the school after an eyewitness to the assault pointed out to teachers one of the attackers.

School officials told the child’s mother there will be an investigation into the incident. The child, who did not see his attackers, saw one other student before he was ambushed, and that student identified one of the attackers on Friday. The victim was subsequently threatened and told that he “will be dealt with.”

The boy spent most of the day in the principal’s office and was kept back after school for police to speak with him. While there, a fight broke out with other children along the Priority Bus Route and the police had to briefly attend to that.

Despite the assurances that the matter is being investigated, the child’s mother wants him transferred out of the school. Ministry officials said they have been informed of the incident and will be investigating it as soon as the offenders are identified.