There were videos of female students fighting at St. Joseph High School this week. It seems like spirits of hysteria and chaos were at work at what is considered one of Guyana’s top schools. There were two and three fights happening simultaneously and the adult staff seen on the videos seemed to have little control. Some students who were not involved in the fights were filming on their mobile phones, while some were inciting, and a few were trying to intervene.
Whenever there are such incidents, there are always comparisons with the past. And the conclusion usually is that the children of the past were not as undisciplined as the children now. But fighting has always been a part of the school culture. One major difference between then and now is that we are more exposed because of mobile phones and the internet. No longer are the majority mischievous in the dark or hiding behind veils – the sins of the generations are now televised. Children now are attending school with mobile phones. In this attention-seeking age of social media whether behaviours are negative or positive there are opportunities for likes, comments and to grow one’s following.
Viewing the videos of the fights made me reflect on my days in school. Fights were often. Sometimes one would even fight their friends and by next day, be buddies again. There were those instances however when the fights intensified. Weapons were involved in those fights. While attending primary school a student lost an eye because she was stabbed in that eye with a pencil by another student. I remember students fighting with pieces of wood, busting each other’s heads with stones and even on the rare occasion a knife or broken bottle would be involved. It was a toxic school environment. Luckily everyone made it out alive, though some were permanently scarred. But the violence in the schools was not okay then and it is not okay now.
There were voices that called for the expulsion of the children involved in the St. Joseph High School fights. Others did not agree that they should be expelled. While I agree that they should be disciplined, every child has a right to an education. And while the fights would have exposed the school in a negative light, expelling the children might result in more harm in the long term. If the system rejects the child and denies them an education, why would they not want to burn the system?
But also, teachers should not feel threatened by their students. How can teachers teach those they are afraid of? If children can fight in front of teachers, why would they not fight the teachers? And what about the children who are always in trouble – is it justifiable to expel them and leave them to burn the village as adults when they have no skills or qualifications?
The incident started conversations about parenting, teaching, and the freedoms of children. There were those who advocated for a return of corporal punishment in the schools. I know that there are children who are currently still being beaten in schools, so corporal punishment is not completely out of the schools. I however do not agree with corporal punishment.
It is strange that many adults believe that the children of today are undisciplined because many are not being beaten. Isn’t it funny that many adults believe that the answer to disciplining children, the answer to the violence we witnessed at St. Joseph High School, is beating? How do we explain solving violence with violence?
I believe most Guyanese parents do beat their children. And while many of us say that the beatings we received as children did not negatively affect us as adults, if we were to really examine our lives – the way some of us raise our children, our relationships, our self-esteem, and mental health, we would realize that that is a lie. We continue to lie in this country that beating children has no impact on the perpetuation of violence. But how do we bend a tree by beatings and not expect that the scars will remain when that tree matures? Most parents beat children out of anger. Why are we so dishonest about linking the high incidence of violence in Guyana to the way many of us were traumatized as children because of corporal punishment? When we beat children, whether we want to admit it or not, we are telling them that it is okay to be hit as a form of discipline and it is okay to hit. So, when men decide that they will beat their wives as a form of discipline, why do we tell them that they are wrong and often prosecute them? When a woman decides to beat or kill a man, why is she imprisoned? How are we shocked and outraged every time another Guyanese man kills his wife or ex? How is it that most people do not have a problem with beating children, but they have an issue with adults beating adults?
Look at our country and tell me that corporal punishment has resulted in a morally sound society. It is debatable but look at how the people stand divided and every week there is the shedding of blood. Are we all treated equally? Are there words of violence, acts of violence and toxicity that burden us? Convince me that all is well in 592 because most of us were beaten as children.
Some of the girls in the St. Joseph High School fights were wearing hair extensions and there were also comments about the Ministry of Education allowing hair extensions in school. Whether hair extensions influence a child’s ability to learn or not, I guess is still to be determined by experts who focus on the superficial issues rather than the deep-rooted issues that make our children act violently with no respect for authority.
The parents must set the first examples for their children. Unfortunately, the relationships between many parents and children are toxic. Instead of parenting children now, many children are left to be raised by the internet, their friends, and their teachers. From the time we put phones and tablets in their hands as babies with internet access we are failing to protect them for as long as possible from a world that is chaotic.
Failed parenting is to be blamed for the unruly behaviour of some children. This society often does not protect children. From the time we begin to hit them, condition them that pain is a solution to resolving conflicts, we have already set them on a destructive path. Some will choose to carve their own path while others will struggle along the one set for them. When are we going to stop doing the same thing repeatedly, and expect different results?
