Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/885/-1/139/
|
TEACHERS TAKE STAND School Violence Must Stop
|
The recent gang beating of Claudel Romney Jr., a young student at the Comprehensive School, who was admitted to the hospital as a consequence, and other acts of deviant behaviour, have forced teachers to take a strong stand against violence in the school.
The executive of the Anguilla Teachers Union (ATU) first met on March 7 with teachers of the Comprehensive School to discuss the matter and then held a follow-up meeting on March 11 with all primary and second teachers. The meetings were held as the Government awaited a report from the Principal on the latest acts of violence in the school to consider what measures should be taken to address the growing problem.
|
|
Cross section of teachers meeting at the Stoney Ground School
|
The ATU has stated that it will not condone violence in any form and has called for a zero tolerance of this type of behaviour in the schools. The point has been made that it is not only the responsibility of the teachers but that of the community on a whole to stand up against violence.
At the March 11 meeting, the union called for a march against violence in the schools at a date to be announced later. All stakeholders in education, ministers of religion, parents and students are all being invited to participate.
A number of recommendations were made at the meeting by teachers and the ATU executive. Among them was the suspension or expulsion of students for a number of serious rule violations. These include possession of a firearm on school property or at school events; possession or use of a weapon …capable of inflicting serious bodily harm; physical assault of a teacher, administrator, staff member or student; verbal threat to any of the same persons; possession, sale or use of illegal drugs on campus; and actual or threatened retaliation against persons who report threats or acts of violence.
Other recommendations are that the teachers should document student behaviour in and out of the classroom; report on repeat absent offenders to reduce truancy; students should be made to understand school rules which should be applied in a consistent manner with established consequences for violations; rules should be sent to parents and guardians and that relative forms to be signed by the students and their parents/guardians.
The recommendations also call for paid and trained personnel to assist teachers and administrators in monitoring student behaviour and activities including at such times as lunch periods and travelling on the bus; develop and enforce restrictions with respect to students loitering in parking lots, bathrooms and other areas; and to adopt policies for conducting searches for weapons and drugs.
The teachers further recommended a policy prohibiting students from leaving the campus during break; and the provision of intercom, paging, two-way radio and camera monitoring systems on buses and school campuses.
Various after school programmes to keep students engaged in useful activities and the provision of a juvenile delinquency centre for repeat offenders have also been recommended. In addition, there has been a recommendation for a lobbying for the removal or filtering of television channels that display negative and anti-social behaviour, thought to be a bad influence on young people.
Teachers at the meeting on school violence
|