‘We can’t fight fire with fire’

MOE official blames tolerance of violent culture for spike in school attacks

JAMAICA’S LONG-TERM tolerance of a culture of violence is to blame for the recent wave of student-centred violence in schools, Richard Troupe, the acting director of the Ministry of Education’s Safety and Security Unit, has said.

Troupe made the sobering declaration while addressing an awards ceremony for the 2019-20 Trees for Peace competition, held at Maryland All-Age School in Hanover on Tuesday. The competition was launched in 2018 by the Violence Prevention Alliance and the Ministry of Education for schools to create peace gardens for conflict resolution.

“You’ve seen a number of videos in recent times, with children fighting in class and throwing chairs when the teacher is there, and a dean of discipline was physically assaulted because he gave a student an ultimatum to dress appropriately,” said Troupe.

“We knew this was coming from a long time now, and the culture of violence that surrounds us every day is a reflection of what was to come if we pretended we could continue to coexist with those who perpetrate violence.”

Troupe was referencing a video that went viral on social media last month in which students of Pembroke Hall High School in St Andrew turned stools into missiles while a teacher took cover after initially trying to stop the brawl. The incident took place months after Marsha Lee Crawford, a teacher at the same school, was caught on video threatening to kill a student. Also last month, teachers at Oracabessa High School in St Mary took protest action after the dean of discipline was attacked by a schoolboy who the dean had reprimanded for his attire.

Troupe said that school violence could not be solved by applying punishment or blaming students’ upbringing.

“We cannot fight fire with fire as punitive action and the severity of our response will not be the game-changer for us. Also, too often, we blame the parents, but the dysfunctionalities of many Jamaican families isn’t a result of poor parenting, but of the level of violence that impacts our families,” said Troupe.

The Ministry of Education has endorsed the Trees for Peace programme, an initiative geared at teaching children how to resolve conflicts.

On February 10, the Jamaica Teachers’ Association issued a 30-day deadline for the ministry to address the problem of school violence.

PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER THOMAS Richard Troupe (centre), acting director of the Ministry of Education’s Safety and Security Unit, participates in a group shot for the presentation of the first-place trophy to Maryland All-Age following the school’s participation in the 2019-20 Trees for Peace competition. Posing with Troupe are (from left) Andria Dehaney-Grant, principal; Tyrone Miller and Jody-Ann Hylton, grade six students of Maryland All-Age School; Everett Riley, senior education officer; Elizabeth Ward, chairman of the Violence Prevention Alliance; Kenoy Smith, sixth-grader; Patricia Haughton, senior education officer; Kerel Samuels, senior teacher; and Yvonne Ward-Hardie, education officer.