Some students ‘traumatised’ by controversial survey

A veteran educator says there is evidence some of the 11-year-olds who took a controversial Computer Science pre-test last week were left traumatised.

Sandie Field-Kellman, who has been teaching for over 28 years, revealed that several of the students she teaches privately had shown signs of being adversely affected by questions in the pre-test, which was an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-administered survey.

“Those children need to be shown some kind of balance to this situation that took place,” Field-Kellman told Barbados TODAY after making the disclosure on Friday.

Parents and members of the public have expressed outrage about the questionnaire which was administered to first-formers at five secondary schools without parental consent. It quizzed students on their sexuality, gender identity, and mental state, among other things.

Commenting on the issue during the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Astor B Watts Lunchtime Lecture series on Friday afternoon, Field-Kellman said there was clear evidence the test had affected some children.

“I want to say that I teach privately and I have four children who did this test who are traumatised. Remember, all children are not from homes that have the wherewithal and the know-how and the understanding and the empathy to work with their children.

“We have sought information for these children because a lot of these children come from homes where there are domestic problems and this now mounts up on top of it,” Field-Kellman said.

In a subsequent interview with Barbados TODAY, she said she had determined the students were affected based on her conversations with them.

“I have a couple children who went through this exercise and this experience who it affected. Not all children will not be affected the same way, some might not even be affected at all….

“But I was able to tell that my children were traumatised because they actually told me, ‘Ma’am, Aunty, this has affected me’ and when I asked certain questions that they obviously could not answer, I was able to know that these children were affected, especially mentally and emotionally.

“We have to look at our children’s emotional intelligence as we go forward because these children are the future of Barbados,” Field-Kellman said.

The veteran educator disclosed that she was among a group of people planning a protest to highlight the issue, but stressed that it was not a political issue.

She contended that the focus right now ought to be protecting the children and ensuring a similar incident is never repeated.

“As a teacher, as an educator and as an advocate also for children and issues, I really do think that something needs to be done for the sake and the wellbeing of the children…. Whether I am a parent of those children or not, as a parent first, as a mother and a teacher and a citizen of this country Barbados, I really do think the onus is on us, whether we support whatever party.

“I really do think that we as individuals need to come together for the common cause and good of the children….

“I am one that doesn’t believe that you leave everything up to a Government. I think that we as individuals should be proactive and bring a solution, an understanding to persons who maybe don’t even understand what is going on because there are a lot of parents out there who maybe don’t think anything is wrong with it.”

Delivering the lecture, human rights advocate and university lecturer Felicia Dujon said she also believed that some of the students who took the test would have been harmed psychologically.

The lecturer in Philosophy at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, said she hoped the incident would change the way Barbadians think about abuse and treatment of children.

“We tend to think of abuse as something physical. If we don’t see the harm on our bodies then there is no harm. But we now understand there is psychological harm as well, there’s long-term harm.

“Recent research has shown us that psychological harm is just as detrimental as physical harm and so you can imagine how some of those students would have felt to be asked those unethical questions, to be asked questions that allow them to probe into areas that they have not even ventured into yet.”

Dujon added: “Perhaps this matter may help us to think a little bit deeper in terms of how we treat our children, how we think about our children and what we can do better in the future.”

On the heels of the pre-test fiasco, the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training set up a hotline to assist parents/guardians who were concerned that their children/wards were negatively affected by the survey.

Both the Ministry and the IDB have publicly apologised for the inclusion of the controversial questions.

The Bank admitted that it had failed to remove the questions as requested by the Ministry, while the Ministry acknowledged that it had dropped the ball in not vetting the survey before it went out.

randybennett@barbadostoday.bb