Port of Spain primary schools march for peace

ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD Kadeon Gittens, born with spina bifida, cannot walk. But that did not stop him from joining his classmates at the Tranquillity Government Primary School, Port of Spain for a peace walk on November 7.

His mother, Sylvia Gittens, pushed his wheelchair along Stanmore Avenue as the group made their way to the Queen’s Park Savannah.

Gittens spoke to Newsday about the challenges her son has faced as a victim of bullying. She said Kadeon has been pushed out of his wheelchair by school bullies multiple times.

“There were several incidents where children were pushing him and pushing his wheelchair and I had to handle it. I had to go to the teachers, the principal and the police to sort out things.”

She said while the bullying has stopped and things are back to normal, anti-bullying initiatives, like the peace walk, are still important for influencing the behaviour of students.

“It is happening, bullying is happening, and we need to get the message out there to the children. They need to know that bullying is not okay and they should be a buddy instead.”

Be a Buddy Not a Bully was the theme of the walk. Over 200 students from both Tranquillity and the Piccadilly Government Primary School chanted the words as they waved signs saying, “Protect the children,” and “Stop violence.”

Principal of the Tranquillity primary school Nicole Guy-Dunbar said the walk was a response to violence and bullying in and around the school.

“We have noticed an upsurge of violence within our wider community…and we have seen evidence of bullying in our school and others.

"Our children originate from communities in East Port of Spain like Beetham and Sea Lots, and we are not only seeing bullying among them, but the parents as well. Parents feel that principals and teachers are doing absolutely nothing.

"So we have started with this peace walk and we are having our non-violence day today as well. We have also launched an anti-bullying campaign.

“We are educating and re-conditioning the minds of our students so that they will find alternative methods...Instead of resolving issues with violence they will resolve it peacefully. And as our name is 'tranquillity,' we are trying to advocate for that kind of attitude in our students so they can be kinder.”

The principal of the Piccadilly primary school, Meera Ramesar, said the walk was part of a policy the school is implementing in collaboration with the Education Ministry.

“We are carrying on with a cultural transformation policy that is sanctioned by the Education Ministry and one of those policies is 'no to violence.' So this is where we are commemorating the UN’s International Day of Peace with a peace walk and it will integrate with the policy.

“This is to encourage children to be peaceful and disciplined, because Piccadilly Government Primary School stands for discipline.”