President of the Grenada Union of Teachers (GUT), Marvin Andall has said
that his union is very concerned about the issue of violence in schools.
Andall was speaking about the spate of violence that has been taking place
on school compounds within recent months.
The latest occurred three weeks ago when a teacher was allegedly assaulted
by a male student inside of one of the classrooms at the Seventh Day
Adventist Comprehensive School at Mt. Rose, St. Patrick's.
The incident took place when the teacher asked the student to stop playing
music from his laptop computer in the classroom.
In an interview with GRENADA TODAY, Andall expressed regret that such an
incident should occur, and hoped that this does not become a regular habit.
"A threat to teacher safety in one school is a threat to teacher safety in
all schools," he remarked.
The GUT President believes that because Grenada has now become a violent
society, the schools are just a microcosm of what is transpiring in the
society.
"If we have a violent society we will have violent schools. If we have a
peaceful society we will have peaceful schools because the children who come
to schools come from somewhere and they are part of our society," he said.
Andall called for action to be taken to examine what can be done to prevent
the occurrence of such violent incidents at schools.
He suggested that teachers might have to acquire new skills to deal with
aggressive children.
He said that not only teachers, but everyone needs to feel safe in the
society.
"There is no one-off solution to this problem of violence in schools. It
requires all stakeholders to be involved. Parents too have to provide better
guidance for their youngsters and take more responsibility for their
actions," he added.
As a result of the incident at the school, the Principal of the school has
suspended all sporting activities there.
Andall said his teachers do not believe in the principle of punishing all
students for the offence committed by one student.
"If one student did something exceptionally well, something outstanding,
would all the students in the school be rewarded for that outstanding
performance?
"...If a student did something bad, should all students be punished, I think
it begs the question. When things happen it is normal to react, and the
Principal had to take some action. We are not certain at this stage (if) it
is the best action that she took.
School violence on the island took a turn for the worse earlier this year
with the stabbing to death of a Wesley College student on the school's
compound at Queen's Park, St. George's by a fellow student.
The 14-year old student from Grand Mal, St. George's who is accused of
committing the incident on May 29 is facing a charge of manslaughter.
