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 when he first enrolled at St Gabriel’s Nursery School.
According to the mother, on her child’s third day of school he returned home and reported to her that his teacher hit him in the mouth and he didn’t understand why.
“On the first day, he happily went to school. On the second day, he didn’t want to enter the classroom, on the third day, the teacher hit him, broke his mouth, and hit his hand. My son told me, ‘Mom, the teacher hit me in the mouth, and I don’t know why’,” she recounted.
Gómez said that upon hearing this she immediately texted the teacher who related to her “that breakfast time had ended, and she asked the child to put away his food three times, but he didn’t obey and continued chewing”.
The distraught mother explained that her son didn’t understand English at the time. She continued that quickly went to talk to the principal and was told that “it was impossible, that the teacher was excellent, and had never had a problem. I showed her the text messages where the teacher admitted to hitting him. She said there must be a reason”.
Instead, Gómez was given another version of the story by the principal. Finding no satisfaction at the highest level of the school, she ventured to the police force and moved upwards, but to no avail.
“…. that my 3-year-old son was bothering the others, and she did this in defense of the other children… I went to the police, and they sent me to child protection. I went to child protection, and they sent me to the Ministry of Education. I went to the Ministry of Education, and all they did was transfer my son to another school. And that was it. No one did anything. No one defended my son”.
Gómez was eventually forced to enroll her son into a private institution, where he is receiving his education more peacefully. She is pleading for authorities to take these matters seriously and not brush them off with minimal consequences. She noted that the safety and mental well-being of her children and others in similar situations are at stake.
Meanwhile, the parents of the initial victim, whose name is Eliannys, have expressed that both they and their child are psychologically distressed. The parents also confirmed that they have met with Ministry of Education officials who promised to deal with the matter. Stabroek News (SN) also contacted Chief Education Officer (CEO) Saddam Hussain yesterday and he related that he personally met with the parents and the victim.
According to a friend of both Eliannys and Daniela, a Brazilian student named Olivia, “the same girls who beat Eli [Eliannys], fought with me on the same day… on that same day they came asking for money from me, then one of them started arguing with me, and Eli defended me”. The young lady had related to Gómez that it was this incident that led to the five-on-one assault that was recorded and leaked on social media.
Subsequent to the phone call between Stabroek News and Hussain, a statement was released by the Ministry of Education (MOE) on its Facebook page, informing that the investigations into the matter had concluded on Monday.
The notice said that Ministry investigated a physical assault on a female student at Queenstown Secondary School and took several actions including counseling, suspension, and transfers. They emphasized the importance of prioritizing student safety and well-being in schools and at home.
Gómez, who was present at the meeting with government officials, including Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn, on Monday, described same as a “smokescreen… so they could say that they did something”. According to her, while Benn treated them kindly, nothing came of the matter.
“It was decided that the Guyanese girls would have a 7-day suspension and later transfer to a different school. Nothing came of it! Meanwhile, Eli was left bruised and with psychological damage, depressed from what happened. No one did anything. If they were beaten or killed, she would be left like that. Because no one does anything… they should have made the parents pay a fine for not educating their children and raising them without values. And the worst part of it all… During the meeting, those [girls], along with their mothers, were laughing at Eli, and, to top it off, the school principal had an ironic smile. That hurt me a lot,” she expressed.
While the Ministry of Education’s statement regarding the incident may have outlined some actions that have been taken, the Venezuelan community in Guyana has expressed dissatisfaction in the moves. Many are calling for more significant action to be taken to ensure the safety and well-being of students at Queenstown Secondary School.
Katiuska Hernandez, another Queenstown Secondary parent and an advocate for the girls, also expressed her profound disappointment to Stabroek News.
“Truthfully, we are not happy with this situation… with small penalties… the girl did not receive the help we thought she would. What they did to the parents… we are very dissatisfied with this situation,” she said.
Both Hernandez and Gómez believe that their voices and that of others must be heard, and their concerns addressed to ensure that all students, regardless of their background, feel safe and valued in their learning environment.
The Venezuelan community in Guyana is adamant that the incident involving Eliannys should not be taken lightly and that stronger measures need to be implemented to prevent such occurrences in the future. This incident has shed light on the need for stronger measures to be taken to protect the well-being of all students in Guyana’s schools.
