A recent incident at St Joseph High School, involving a young boy targeted by several others who could be four or five years older and the initial responses to that assault, force us to yet again confront an uncomfortable truth; the individuals and institutions that should be protecting our children are failing miserably.
While the child was not physically harmed, based on the details from his parent, which she gleaned from him, one can only guess at the mental and emotional trauma he endured and is most likely still enduring. Incidents such as this one can and do shape our lives whether we are aware of them doing so or not. One only hopes that although the mother of this boy refused to allow him to be counselled by state employees, she will recognise that it is necessary and seek therapy for him from other sources.
There are several unpardonable actions stemming from the incident that should be addressed and it might be instrumental to start at the top. Minister of Education Priya Manickchand told this newspaper on Monday that her ministry had not only launched an investigation into the allegations, but had also arrived at comprehensive resolutions. She did not elaborate, which is understandable since both the victim and perpetrators are minors. What the minister and her ministry neglected to do, and what was necessary, was to publicly and definitively condemn what occurred. In fact, the Ministry of Education should have been first out of the gates with a carefully crafted statement, rather than waiting to take questions from the media. Lest we forget, both the ministry and the minister have espoused zero tolerance on bullying.
In an anonymous Facebook post, the affected child’s mother mentioned that a senior welfare officer responding to the incident questioned the veracity of the child’s complaint. Unbelievable. It is standard practice to never doubt a child reporting abuse. Instead, social workers/welfare officers should reassure the child by letting him/her know that coming forward was the right thing to do. Reporting abuse takes courage and asking if the child is lying further victimises that child. Absolute failure by that officer.
The child’s mother, in her soliloquy on social media, said that she first learned that an incident had occurred by way of a telephone call from a teacher. She said the teacher told her that there had been “a little touching thing” and that the children were being “disgusting”. When Guyanese use that word to describe children, it’s usually another way of calling them annoying. In this instance, the actions of those older boys were far more dangerous and should not have been shrugged off or laughed at by any adult in that school. What kind of teacher finds humour in a report of a child being humiliated and abused? The parents of the older boys should have been immediately summoned to the school and severe reprimands instantly issued. That teacher and the school failed not only the child who was traumatised, but the ones who caused his trauma.
Was there intent to harm when those older boys locked the young ones (according to reports another child was being targeted at the same time) in a toilet and demanded that they remove their trousers? Was there intent to demean when they hurled homosexual slurs? Perhaps. Perhaps not. The point is that they were being cruel because they could. That is tantamount to, at the very least, bullying. But if, as the mother of the child who was targeted claimed, it is a common practice at St Joseph High then it could be viewed as hazing, which is detrimental and destructive.
Hazing, a practice more prevalent in western societies, is defined as any action against an individual that is non-consensual, and causes physical injury, or mental or emotional distress. It could involve kidnapping or imprisonment (this does not have to be for a lengthy period), forcing the individual to drink alcohol or commit an act that may result in humiliation or degradation. While hazing tends to be mostly linked to pledging or initiation into groups or organisations, it has been used as a tool to impart ignominy for absolutely no reason. Hazing has had fatal consequences.
To date there have not been any reported instances of hazing in Guyana, but just because it’s not reported does not mean it doesn’t exist and should not be addressed and guarded against. Children entering secondary schools tend to be innocent and impressionable. They should be able to look up to the older children, and not be preyed upon by them. Where are the anti-bullying strategies that were bandied about by the ministry? Are they being implemented in all schools? Protecting children, all children must be a priority. Schools and the Ministry of Education need to get their acts together, and urgently.