Parents are the cause of violence in state-run schools, a guidance counselor claimed last night. In an exclusive Guardian interview, the high school guidance counselor said parents were to blame when their children felt they had the “right to knock someone else’s lights out to settle disputes”.
“Rationality no longer exists in high schools,” the counselor, who refused to be named, said. “Whenever there is a dispute these days, the boys and girls as well, feel they should settle it by slapping, kicking and in some cases stabbing the other individual.
“Its not like in days of old where children adhered to discipline and respected their teachers and principals. Because they have parents who come up to school and are ready to openly cuss out and in some cases fight with teachers, the children adopt themselves to a sensation of lawlessness.”
The guidance counselor added that there is no longer respect for teachers and fellow students in governmnet-run schools. He said discipline starts at home and if parents fail to set high standards of behaviour then their children will believe the rules don’t apply to them.
“If a child, especially one in their teens sees his mother or father always ready to tackle people without using any form of reasoning, then the child will automatically assume that is the way it should be done,” he explained. “Therefore the students come to school pumped up and hostile each day just looking for trouble.
“If a teacher or another student says something to them, they are ready to tear somebody’s head off,” the counselor added. “It is really rough working in the schools.
“At one point, some teachers here were openly discussing arming themselves against these students.”
The guidance counselor confirmed that a great deal of violent confrontations go unrecorded as teachers try to defuse the situations. He said there would be far more expulsions if every act of violent behaviour was recorded.
A teenage student, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, backed up the guidance counselor’s claim.
“It stems from your mindset,” he said. “What angers you, is what brings you to a violent conclusion. Sometimes we do things without even thinking and the consequence doesn’t even matter depending on the situation.
“For most of the teen males involved with fighting, I can safely say it’s because they don’t want to go out like a punk,” he added. “In other words, they don’t want to be laughed at or looked upon as a loser.
“As for me, whenever I feel disrespected I feel it’s necessary to use my fists to let the person know that I am not to be taken lightly.”
In an upsurge in playground violence, two police officers were beaten by students at C.C. Sweeting High School recently. After the brutal attacks, the students were said to have warned that the teachers were next. School principals had to call a special assembly to maintain their authority.
In another incident, two girl students at the Baptist-run Jordan Prince William High School had a video taped fight placed on the internet.
Principal Eugene Bonamy immediately suspended all the students involved. He added that the 20-second fight stemmed from “a very frivolous matter.”
“Another thing that encourages this sort of behaviour, is the strange relationships parents of the day have with their children,” the guidance counselor said. “Children are no longer afraid to come home and tell their parents how they slapped down someone’s child or how they insulted a teacher. Back in the day, no child could approach an adult on such matters.
“If you sit down with your children and put yourself on the same level with them and have those types of conversations with them, then what do you expect them to do? They feel their behaviour is acceptable because their parents indirectly and sometimes directly encourage it,” he added.
From: The Nassau Guardian
