Today Heartically Yours thanks Tashanta Brooks for allowing the use of excerpts from her presentation at the Lay Preachers’ Week panel discussion at Bethel Methodist Church on Tuesday 28th April 2009. (Ijahnya Christian)

Whose problem is school violence? It is everyone’s problem. As terrible and frightening as incidents of school violence are, they are not new. Just as Anguilla has developed, technology more advanced, types of crimes committed in our society have changed and violence in school has been taken to a different level. I was asked on Friday to be a part of this panel discussion representing Young People and thus I only had a few days to ask various young persons why? Why violence existed in our schools? I am not going to speak to you as a Probation Officer, a Methodist member, or a Criminal Justice major but as a young person.
Firstly most of the young people I spoke to believe that school violence exists because of the gang rivalry in the communities. Even if you are not a part of the gang but associate with anyone that may be a member you are a target. I was told that some of the young people that engage in violent acts in school do so to be popular and if being in bad company makes you popular then that it what you do. Many of the school children said that peers, many of whom engage in violent behaviors, come to school under the influence of drugs. Lack of positive role models, lack of father figures in homes and peer pressure were contributing factors to young people joining gangs/bad company or engaging in violent acts. I spoke to some young people from the communities deemed to have gangs and most of them shared some problem in their home environment. Some did not feel loved, understood or appreciated. Some said they could not go to their parents or family members with their problems/concerns because before they listen to them they would argue and would not listen to what they are saying. Therefore for some young people the only persons that are there for them giving them social support or their group members.

The school has instigators - people who like the entertainment of fights, and therefore create situations that a fight may occur. Some of the males I talked to have the perception that good girls love bad boys and thus this drives them to engage in delinquent acts. Fighting is seen by some as a way of earning respect and power. People know who you are, your ability to be violent, and they become afraid of you. Tell-lie vision as referred to by one young person, many of us know it as television/T.V, and certain music and games were also stated as contributors to school violence. They portray negative ideas as something positive that should be imitated. Bad boys and crooks are more entertaining, noticed and remembered. I got the impression that all the young people are referring to males when they speak of school violence, so I asked the question are females fighting? The majority seemed to respond yes - the females are fighting for the males.

Many young people reported that most time it is school children that are academically inclined/low achievers that engage in violent acts. This perhaps is a cover up. If you view them as delinquent/ problematic you wouldn’t pay attention to their academic needs. The education system and government have failed our low achievers. It doesn’t take a consultant coming to Anguilla to tell us we need technical/vocational certified classes. The W.I.S.E program was initially supposed to be a place where young people not coping with the academic aspect of school could go and gain a technical skill. Today WISE has lost focus and has become an escape mechanism for the mainstream school as Campus A and B are referred to.

The lack of respect from both teachers and students contributes to this growing problem. Students said that their teachers do not respect them and therefore they could not respect them either. It has been said that some teachers do not set good examples by disrespecting them, calling them names, throwing objects at them, smoking cigarettes on campus, dressing inappropriately, dating students and using profane language. Some reported that all of these have made them extremely angry and they have had verbal and even physical altercations with their teachers. Some said that when they are bullied, harassed, threatened they make complaints to teachers several times and nothing is done. They are then left feeling hopeless and take matters into their own hands.

Young people also believe that the church plays a part in the school violence. Some said church people preach in church and then forget the next day, not playing an active role in society. Some said when they go to church people say negative things about the youth but none of them go to the corner or where ever they chill to see how they could be helped. One young man in particular I talked to chilling on a block said he went to church regularly and then he got sick. He waited for someone from the church to ask or look for him but no one came. This discouraged him from going to church. On the other hand if he is ever absent from the block his boys call to see where he’s at and if he’s ok. Therefore he has his boys back and would not sit by and watch someone make trouble with them.
From talking to several young people I have found that many young people are not equipped with the skills of Anger Management. Everyone gets angry, it’s a natural process but it is vital for us to learn how to channel that anger positively. School violence is not only done by members of so called gangs but at times by children who are members of good homes and upbringings. Children do not understand that if someone hits you it doesn’t mean you have to hit them back. They believe walking away from confrontation gives the other person power and control.

In concluding: A minority of school children are engaged in violent behaviour. They are crying out for help. Can children that have violent tendencies be identified at an early age? Can we identify children who may not be academically inclined before they reach A.L.H.C.S? Can we reach out to the young people who engage in school violence? Can we equip school children with anger management and decision making skills? As Obama said, ‘Yes we can.’ In Anguilla it is our trade mark to sit idly while things escalate. Have big meetings, rallies, make plans when a situation is out of hand, when the topic is hot on the radio programmes or when there is a public outcry we talk, voice concerns and then nothing materializes. We had a stop the violence march in 2007 and most recently a report done by the task force on school violence in March 2009. Tonight we have this well put together panel discussion but my question is, what’s next?

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