Measured action on school violence

While the video circulating showing the brutal assault on June 3 of a Form 5 student at South East Port of Spain Secondary School (SEPoS) was deeply disturbing to watch, the response by the PM was equally troubling.

"If they can't train them to properly behave in school," Mrs Persad-Bissessar warned parents, "then let them stay home and fight."

Unfortunately, children with a taste of delinquency aren’t likely to stay home and will probably be scooped up by gangs looking for fresh cannon fodder.

The PM has since clarified her position, stating that students involved in physical assaults at school would face expulsion, potential criminal charges and mandatory enrolment in the Military-Led Academic Training programme, all measures currently in place.

The National Parent Teacher Association (NPTA) president, Walter Stewart, has endorsed a refreshed zero-tolerance approach to indiscipline. TTUTA president Martin Lum Kin was more measured in his response, supporting initiatives that curbed school violence and indiscipline and ensured a safe environment for teachers and students.

The SEPoS incident attracted top-level interventions by the government. The ministers of Defence, Homeland Security and Education made in-person visits to the school on June 6, listening to the concerns of school administrators and educators.

Rampant indiscipline at a school is rarely indicated by one major incident. Issues at SEPoS, which has a student population of more than 800, have been public knowledge for years and intervention efforts have clearly proven ineffective.

In November 2023, police had to be called in to quell a fight and one student had to be subdued with pepper spray. The location of the school is also an issue. In 2020, TTUTA called on the government to relocate it.

The Nelson Street address hosted a shootout in the school’s proximity on October 2024 leaving three people injured and schoolchildren traumatised. After that incident, one weeping teacher interviewed by Newsday explained that, “For these children going to school now is like a battle.”

Clearly a harder line musrmt be taken with students who stubbornly resort to violence to solve issues, but the government should be minded to pursue such iron-handed approaches with a velvet glove.

While clearly outlining the hard penalties for violent outbreaks, softer initiatives that target defusing social conflicts and responding more effectively to the nationwide scourge of bullying, both in-person and online, should shape the government’s response.

In school environments that are particularly troubled, anonymous systems to alert school administrators of developing threats and issues should be part of an ongoing measurement of the emotional temperature in these institutions.

Spaces and blindspots in schools known to harbor potential delinquent activity should be more thoroughly monitored through electronic surveillance and more active internal security patrols.

Modeling mature engagement with difficult situations should be part of teacher coaching and senior student engagement with the school population. It should also inform the government’s response.