By Anesta Henry
A former educator has suggested that the influence of outside parties in schools must not be ignored in the ongoing debate over violence in places of learning.
Former principal of Alexandra and Parkinson Memorial School, Jeff Broomes, told Barbados TODAY that Barbadians must be cognisant that while there has been an increase in the incidents of violence in schools, the same surge has been taking place in society.
“We need to stand firm. I also believe that the negative influences from outside the schools cannot be ignored. And I don’t know if we give our police officers enough support, but I think our police need support because they have real challenges with what has been happening,” Broomes said.
Meanwhile, the retired educator also indicated that students who spent many months attending online classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, may be lacking the necessary conflict resolution skills. He said that while fights in schools were nothing new, students are now responding differently leading to unwanted outcomes.
Additionally, Broomes said, attention must also be paid to the fact that many students have fallen behind in their academic studies because they were not coping well in the online learning environment. Some of them are now frustrated.
“Teachers have lost so much teaching time because many times it is not about teaching the subject, it has to be about teaching the children. And because they have fallen so far behind, teachers now have to make up and unfortunately, there are some children who have fallen behind and frustration will kick in. When you are frustrated you feel as if you don’t know what is going on, you react differently, and in this case, react negatively,” he said.
Last week, Minister of State with responsibility for Crime Prevention Corey Lane urged parents not to panic about school security, noting that while he understood their fears and concerns, this is not the time “to get all hysterical”.
Meanwhile, President of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Rudy Lovell said violence in schools has been increasing, and teachers are fearful. He called on authorities to get a handle on the situation. Lovell suggested that parents check their children’s school bags before they leave home.
President of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU), Mary Redman also suggested that one explanation for the upsurge in violence among school children is that some parents have abandoned their responsibility to lead their children. She said many parents have been failing to properly train their children, and have been depending on schools to do so.
Redman also blamed a breakdown in traditional values and morals for the violence in the schools.
Meanwhile, Broomes said he believes that security measures at schools should be tightened in addition to closer supervision on compounds. Teachers, parents and authorities need to get in touch with children, he added.
“Talk to the children, hear them out. See if you can touch them at their base and find out what are the things that are difficult for them. I have always believed, and I tried to institute this when I was at Parkinson, for teachers to have some small groups of children and talk to them. Meet the children at their subject level as well as at their personal level in terms of their challenges,” he said.
