The mother of an 11-year-old boy wants the Ministry of Educational Transformation to implement a standard protocol for all schools that would trigger how to deal with victims of sexual assault and sexual advances.
This was after her son was reportedly cornered in a bathroom on Monday by three boys at the secondary school he attends, with one of the boys making a sexual overture towards him.
She said that sometime on Monday morning her son asked his teacher if he could go to the bathroom.
“When he got into the bathroom three boys cornered him, one of them a fourth former who had his pants down and asked him if he ever ***** yet. The second one held on to my son’s hand and the third one was just laughing. My son pulled away and ran out of the bathroom and the fourth former told him “See you on Friday”.
Terrified
She said her terrified son went back to the classroom and immediately reported the incident to his teacher.
However, the upset mother said the school never informed her or her husband about the incident until her husband went to collect him that evening. She added that more than 72 hours after the incident, which left her child traumatised and afraid to return to school, no school official had contacted her to enquire about his well-being or to direct her on how he could obtain counselling.
Furthermore, she expressed anger and disappointment over how she was treated when she attempted to speak to the principal about what assistance was available for her son.
“My husband went to the school to collect him in the evening and that is when the teacher told him, ‘Your son has not done anything wrong but he was in the bathroom and three boys went to interfere with him.’” He was also advised that the school was carrying out an investigation.
When contacted and asked if there was a standard procedure in place for victims of school incidents, Gaynelle Marshall, communications consultant at the ministry, said each school had its own protocols. She said it was up to the principal and the chair of the school’s board to determine how to deal with various incidents. She further pointed out that not all schools had assigned counsellors.
The mother said they took the boy to the police station that same day but the police advised them to let the school deal with the matter first.
She also telephoned the principal on Monday but was told the principal was not available.
She said her son was so traumatised that he was unable to sleep and did not want to go back
to school because he was afraid.
On Tuesday morning, the mother said she went to the school with her son as she felt that the matter needed to be urgently addressed, especially his mental health.
“I just wanted to know where I could take my child so that he could get counselling. I went to the principal’s office and the secretary informed the principal that I was there. The principal’s door was open and the principal stated: ‘I tell the mother I investigating the situation.’ So when I asked, ‘Can I take my son home?’ The principal said, ‘So what you bring him school for?’”
No compassion
The upset mother said: “The principal ain’t come and talk to me. The principal stayed in the office and passed on the message to the secretary. With that level of audacity and the way the principal got on, I just said, ‘I thank you for your time’ and I left. I felt really bad. This happened to my child and I come to you all to find out where can I carry him so that he can get help, but I was shown no compassion and no empathy.”
The mother said she also had to deter her other sons from going to the school.
“My entire family is upset because he is the baby of the family. He is a very quiet, soft-spoken child and you mean to tell me he just left primary school and gone into secondary school and this happen to him.
“Today is Wednesday and no teacher, no year head, no principal, no guidance counsellor has contacted me to find out about my child or to direct me what to do with him.
“Thank God that there was an opening for him to get away from those boys and escape. I just want to know if I can get some help so that he can overcome this situation because he is afraid to go back to school.”
After not hearing from the school for two days, the mother said she went to the Ministry of Education yesterday and spoke to an officer.
“The officer was very understanding and they have put things in place for my son to receive counselling,” she said. (MB)
