Dead children cold in their mothers’ arms. Permanently injured children held by fathers trying to hide their tears. In a violent society we should not wonder how and why there are children who are violent. In a society where bullies are unmasked and seek to annihilate those they believe are a hindrance by their definition, we delude ourselves when we wonder how their children are also bullies.
Bullyism is not only a Guyanese problem. It is a global manifestation of mankind’s permanent injury of trying to prove that one is better than the other; of the conquest of those deemed weaker; of all lives not mattering and of those most insecure about their place and value on this Earth seeking to suppress the greatness they see in others.
Children dead or permanently injured are plots that should remain in nightmares. Such plots should never become reality. In a world of truth, justice, righteousness and therefore order the children would not lay dead before their parents from bullyism. Parents would not have to care for their children like they are babies who never learned to walk and talk. However sometimes out of those dark places of our subconscious, the monsters become people and the wails for dead or injured children echo across the country. This is what happens in a world of chaos.
We expect that our children will be safe when we send them to school. While we know conflict occurs and this is a violent society, we hope that our children would practice nonviolent conflict resolution. But how? How when measures to discourage and eliminate bullying are lacking? How when the ones the bullies look up to are often bullies themselves? How when some of the bullies have felt the sting of hands that were supposed to protect and love them? How when they have seen their parents or guardians embroiled in conflict? How when they have seen their mothers seeking to hide their wounds and their fathers with bruised hands and vice versa? How when they walk the streets and see it? How when they see it coming from the seats of power? How when they are introduced to it in television, games, and the world wide web?
Still, with prayers to cover their children, faith in humankind and faith in the school system parents send their children to school hoping that they will be unaffected by the bloodied or bruised hands of their parents and society. Parents hope that teachers’ eyes would be permanent on their children as a layer of protection. Parents hope that teachers would intervene at the slightest hint of a squabble among the children and no permanent harm would be done. We hope that the children would respect their teachers and each other. We hope that the miscreants would be fast rehabilitated by whatever means necessary. Whether it be counseling, incarceration or in the shadows of role models we hope that their hands would be without blood. We hope that if a child is injured during their time at school that parents would be informed, and that medical attention would be sought immediately. Our hopes are valid, but the reality is not always so. For one family the nightmare became their reality in November last year.
Eleven-year-old Mark Harrypaul of Strathspey Primary died after being assaulted by another student. A student that it was reported regularly bullied children from that school is responsible for the death of a young man who had a promising future. The fourteen-year-old bully from Buxton Secondary School was said to have snatched something from Harrypaul. It was reported that the fourteen-year-old slammed a gate on Harrypaul’s head. Imagine the terror.
The parents received a call from the headmistress who sent the child home. She said he had a minor injury. The headmistress said she treated him. However later the child had to be rushed to the hospital where he died. It was a fractured skull from blunt force trauma. Harsh and painful! These are scenarios where parents pinch themselves to wake, but unfortunately, they do not wake. They try to reverse the hands of time but unfortunately the power is out of their hands. The parents have been waiting for months for justice but have reported that only counseling was recommended for the bully. They reported trying for months to reach government officials only to be ignored and rejected. Eventually this week when it was announced that they would stage a protest in front of the school, they were contacted.
During that protest which took place on Tuesday another incident of bullyism was highlighted. The family of Jamal Reid of Golden Grove Secondary were at the protest. Jamal was struck in the head with a bat five months ago and has since been suffering from brain damage. He has been placed on medication which he must take for the rest of his life. He has experienced seizures and can no longer attend school. The child is a fraction of what he used to be all because of the violence and bullies we often protect.
In a society where bullies in the spotlight are often praised, can we be surprised? The ordinary poor man is not guaranteed justice. A child is dead and a poor family’s grief and loss is deepened by the inaction and disrespect by those who sit in seats of power. Another child is injured, and the situation of injustice is similar. We have grown to accept these conditions. Often the bullies in positions of power tell us we must accept the poorest of treatment, the worst this country has to offer, suffer, wait, and submit ourselves to praise and honour them while losing ourselves. We are told we must be contented with many conditions in this country that cause stress and grief.
It is evident that we need interventions to combat bullying in schools. Letting bullies walk free while their victims die or are permanently injured frustrates families, emboldens the bullies and there is a risk of hurt families retaliating by taking justice in their hands.
Children cold and dead in their mothers’ arms because they were bullied, should never be. The spirit of a father should not be broken because he feels guilty, he was not there to protect his child. This society should abhor and tackle bullying, not condone it.
