THE LATEST incident of school violence has reportedly resulted in two teenagers being hospitalised.
According to reports, a boy and a girl were badly beaten and had to seek medical attention. The girl was abused by a boy, while the boy had been thrashed by four children from his school. Both parents called for stiffer penalties to be meted out to the guilty parties. Under the rules, the most the perpetrator can get is a two-week suspension.
Here is what online readers had to say:
A. Braithwaite: If the child is in hospital, then the police should be involved and the attackers arrested. This is [beyond] a case of bullying – the child is in hospital. This is the beginning of domestic violence rearing its ugly head. The attackers should also have to leave the school. Imagine the fear in that young woman as she has to attend school with those who put her in hospital. If we don’t stop this behaviour now, it will only lead to continued disrespect and abuse into adulthood.
Melly Mapp: Bullies are not limited to school yards or sports figures as is now the case with the Miami Dolphins football team. It is safe to say that some of us are bullied in some form or the other at some point of our lives even without being conscious of it . . . . A bully can be anyone, anywhere, even in some families with low self-esteem, and insecurity or even with envy.
Ego Evaluation: The bullied children should not have to go back to that environment. Some of bullies’ parents should be forced to pay for private, safe education for bullied children. The children doing the bullying usually encounter the same thing at home and many times worse. Some of these parents should be in jail.
Daneale O’neale: Take them to the courts, get the police involved, seek legal recourse. That’s the only way this [is] going [to] stop. Don’t let another die.
Tony Waterman: I thought that the Minister of Education had given the principals of these schools permission to call in the police when incidents like these occurred on school property? I would like to suggest to the mother that she registers a complaint with the [police] and ask them to investigate the matter, with a hope that charges will be laid.
Big Sky: I agree [that] the punishment does not fit the crime. I think that these bullies should go to a correctional facility to seek evaluation and treatment and also to face punishment.
