A new phenomenon in local schools is a concern to education officials.
In fact, Acting Deputy Chief Education Officer Joy Gittens said she was “alarmed” at the reports reaching her in the past few months.
In addition to all the other issues, 15 of the 26 secondary schools are reporting cases of students causing harm to themselves in various ways. A total of 93 cases have already been reported for the 2010 to 2011 school year.
Students are reportedly self-harming through tattooing, piercing, cutting, burning, embedding and tablet overdosing. The tools include razors; blades from sharpeners; compasses and dividers from geometry sets; matches; long, sharp fingernails; and hairpins.
The problem has reached a stage where the Ministry of Education and the association of guidance counsellors organised a forum at the Savannah Hotel yesterday to discuss the issue and devise a plan to deal with the situation.
Speaking during the opening session of the symposium, president of the association, Margaret Grant, indicated that the acts could be more prevalent. She noted that the figures were only samplings since there were no reports from five schools and that “there may be several other cases which counsellors are not aware of”. The other six schools said no such cases were reported to them.
“This is a cry for help for our children in our schools. Many of them do not know what it means to have positive peer relationships, a family support system or a solid spiritual connection and relationship with God . . . .To many, therefore, self-injury is a coping mechanism. To ask them to give up their coping strategy rarely works and in fact can lead to more dangerous behaviours,” Grant said.
