Venezuelan woman relates tribulations of ch
Following the incident that surfaced with the Queenstown Secondary School student of Venezuelan lineage who was assaulted by her colleagues, a Venezuelan mother has decided to speak out about her own children being bullied.
According to Yuleidy María Castillo Gómez, one of the parents who have been affected by the violence and lack of discipline at Queenstown and other schools in Georgetown, she is fearful for her children when she sends them to school.
“What was once a dream for me has turned into a nightmare, a fear that I live with every day after leaving my children alone and unprotected at school without my protection. For a long time, I have seen horrifying videos of fights that are becoming more frequent within the Queenstown institution where my daughter studies. It is a school without rules, discipline, norms, or respect. My daughter [ who is 15 and in year three] has been a victim of bullying and discrimination many times at school,” Gómez said.
The mother of four noted that her daughter was also verbally abused, on one occasion, by a teacher of the same school who made ethnically prejudiced remarks towards her. When she looked into the situation, Gómez said she received no satisfaction.
“On one occasion, she was verbally abused by a teacher from Sophia. The teacher yelled at her (I have witnesses) and told her that she was not obligated to teach any Spanish student and didn’t care whether she understood the class being taught or not (because my daughter was using the translator on her phone in order to understand the class),” she said.
On this note, Gómez pointed out that Spanish-speaking students receive little to no help with the language barriers whilst in class.
“Many times my daughter has not understood the class, and when she asks the teacher, they respond rudely”.
The bilingual woman explained that she visited the principal of the school to deal with the matter concerning the teacher’s words to her daughter, but never received a response, “let alone her attention. Since then, my daughter has not returned to class on Fridays”.
Additionally, Gómez related that her daughter and her friends have complained to their parents about being bullied by their colleagues for $100 every day and facing brutalization if they failed to produce same.
“Also, the students ask for $100 every day, and if they don’t give it to them, problems start, they push them, stick their feet out to make them fall, [and] ugly looks and shoves begin. In reality, I am not rich. I am poor and work for a minimum wage to support my children and make sure they don’t go without. I wonder if these parents send their children to school hungry, and that’s why the children behave like this?” she pondered.
Not only is Gómez’ daughter being affected in school but her five-year-old son has also had his share of maltreatment