The mother of a 16-year-old North Ruimveldt Multilateral Secondary School student is outraged over what she says was the use excessive force on her son by a teacher who was trying to discipline him at the school.
Tessa Wilson was on her way last evening to lodge a complaint at the East La Penitence Police Station, saying that she needed to ensure justice for her son, Micah Hartman, a Fourth Form student of the school, who bore physical injuries afterward.
Hartman told his mother he was standing in front of a school washroom yesterday at about 3pm s when he was approached and asked by the teacher why he was wearing his hat in the building.
Wilson stated that the teacher then asked her son to remove his hat, but instead of complying, she said, the boy ran and hid in the washroom, hoping that the teacher would not pursue him.
According to Wilson, her son said that the teacher followed him into the washroom, where he instructed other students standing outside the washroom to bar the door and prevent the boy from passing if he attempted to do so.
She stated that it was at this point that the teacher proceeded to use excessive force on her son. The woman further stated that after this episode, the teacher proceeded to drag her son through the washroom door and towards the office of the headmistress. She was told that on his way to the office, he changed the hold being used to restrain the boy since he realised that many other students were observing them.
However, Wilson alleges that once they were in the headmistress’s office, the excessive force continued. The woman related that the teacher proceeded to assault her son in the presence of both the head and the deputy headmistresses, both of whom allegedly did nothing to prevent what was happening.
She stated the other teachers only intervened when her son attempted to retaliate against the teacher.
Wilson stated that when she visited the school to find out what had happened, she was told by the head teacher that her son had assaulted a teacher and that she was going to ensure that he was removed from the school. When she asked the head teacher if she should take her son to the welfare officer, she said the headmistress proceeded to call the welfare officer to relay the situation personally. “Right in front of me she called the welfare officer and tell she, ‘Remember the one who did get away and went to Richard Ishmael without permission? Well, he beat up one of me teacher hey and ah want he out of ma school.’” She stated when she again asked if she should go and speak to the welfare officer, the head teacher told her “‘they ain’t want see you, they waiting on my report and the teacher’s report, they ain’t want see you.’”
Nevertheless, Wilson said she went to the Welfare Office regardless and was greeted by a welfare officer, who seemed reluctant to listen to her.
She stated that the welfare officer told her that she would not be able to listen to her because it was already after four, plus she had already heard the story from the head teacher of the school.
“That is exactly what she call ahead for, she make the welfare officer biased against my son. How they gon just read the teacher’s report? What happen to my son’s report? He ain’t gon get a chance to tell he side of the story,” Wilson noted.
According to Wilson, the welfare officer only entertained her after several minutes of pleading, at which point she noticed injuries on the boy’s head, allegedly caused by the ordeal, and she asked him to write a report of what happened.
Wilson later moved to involve the police, saying that she tried to follow protocol but she felt that she had not been given justice for her son.
