Mottley lauded for stance on bullying

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Supreme Counseling for Personal Development, Shawn Clarke, is applauding the Mia Mottley-led Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration for its willingness to work with organisations such as his to arrive at a solution to stamp out bullying at schools.

In response to Tuesday’s Throne Speech, where Governor General Dame Sandra Mason read that Government will expand the special arrangements that are available to meet the needs of students whose behaviour is disruptive and rooted in deviancy, in addition to expanding the number of programs designed to eliminate bully, Clarke said this is a move in the right direction that must be lauded.

Clarke said at a time when bullying is a major issue in the school system, it is necessary that all that could possibly be done is done to get it under control.

“I would like to express how happy I am to hear it mentioned that bullying will get the attention that it deserves in Barbados’ schools very soon. Obviously that is something that Supreme Counselling and Shawn Clarke have been fighting for a number of years and in recent weeks I would have sounded the alarm again that we need to have a systematic approach to bullying on the island,” he said.

During an interview with Barbados TODAY Clarke also mentioned that he is hoping that the promise made in the Throne Speech regarding Government’s commitment to tackling bullying was not just talk but will become action in the near future.

“I am getting more and more calls from parents since I raised the alarm and Barbados TODAY through the press conference brought the story. Our office phones have been ringing. More

parents have been calling, talking about their child being bullied at school and asking what they can do and what initiatives we can put in place and so on to help them out of the situation. So I am very happy to hear that it is something mentioned by the Government that they are seriously looking at and that they intend to work along with organizations to put systems and structures in place to address this issue, to eliminate it from our schools,” Clarke said. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb