Female Grande student traumatised after classroom beating

A female Sangre Grande Secondary student who was beaten by fellow students on November 19 in the classroom has been left traumatised by the incident and afraid to return to school.

Video of the incident was filmed by fellow students and uploaded to social media.

In the clip, the Form Two student was seen being beaten by another girl. The fracas was temporarily paused when a male student hurled a metal chair at the pair from across the classroom, hitting the aggressor who fell to floor. The other girl, who was on the receiving end of the blows, was then stomped in her back and her head hit the metal chair.

She was taken to the Sangre Grande hospital for treatment with a head injury and has not been to school since.

Speaking to Newsday about the incident, an official said the incident has left everyone mortified as there are two police officers stationed at the school.

"I think this term, they are just wild. They seem uncontrollable," the individual said.

The official said the violence is hurting the ones who genuinely want to learn as there are "constant troublemakers" who want to disrupt classes.

The official said parents are not providing a good example to their dependants.

"Even when we call in parents for consultations, they taking the children's side.

"The innocent ones are the victims."

Explaining what caused the incident, the official said the female student was asked for money by a boy.

However, she refused to give it to him, telling him to ask his girlfriend instead.

The official said the boy's girlfriend and her friends then confronted the girl and they began to fight,.

"They beat the little girl just because she stood up for herself. It's real hooligan behaviour. It's a reflection of the parents."

According to another source, when the police came to address the situation, the girls seemed nonchalant.

Newsday understands there was also a brawl between Sangre Grande Secondary and North Eastern College students after school on the same day, which needed the intervention of police.

Sangre Grande schools seemingly are a cause of concern for the police as many of them, including primary schools, are included on the list for police patrols and officers on the compound.

Speaking to Newsday on November 23, DCP Junior Benjamin said despite the videos showing school violence on social media, he believes the initiative to have officers at schools is working.

"Even in a lot of the schools where we were seeing the fights, we are not seeing it any more, but there are still those schools where they are fights, Those are the ones you are seeing on the airwaves and it can give the impression that the (initiative) is not working," he said.

"There is much testimonies to the fact that there is a reduction in school violence. We are not satisfied, because one fight is one too much. We will continue to push not just for a reduction in fights but also a positive change in behaviour of our children."

Asked whether some schools need a programme tailor-made for its specific issues, Benjamin said, "We need to find out what really is the root cause of the problem. Sometimes the root cause is not really the school but the families where these children come from.

"It is time everybody understands they have a role to play. It starts at home with the parents and then with the other social institutions – churches, temples, mosques, and the school playing their part and the police."