Sexual abuse of chIldren

Oct 24, 2024 Editorial

Editorial…

Kaieteur News – Earlier this week we read in the media about allegations of sexual assault committed on two schoolboys at the St Joseph High School. The alleged perpetrators were older students of the said school.

A report in the Stabroek News quoted Minister of Education Priya Manickchand saying that an investigation has been launched into the allegations that two students of the school were sexually assaulted in the school’s toilet. Manickchand told Stabroek News that officials met both the alleged victims and perpetrators and that comprehensive resolutions were arrived at. There was no mention of what those resolutions are and if they warrant the intervention of law enforcement authorities. It is not the first such complaint of this kind within the school system and it must be firmly discouraged.

Based on media reports too, there were some elements of officials downplaying the allegations- referring to it as a “touching incident.” We at this newspaper believe every such allegation represents a serious problem which must be addressed through criminal prosecution if necessary and all such allegations must be thoroughly investigated and condign action taken against those found guilty of misconduct.

According to UNICEF sexual violence against children is pervasive, cutting across geographical, cultural, and economic boundaries, the data show. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of victims, with 79 million girls and women affected (22 per cent), followed by 75 million in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (8 per cent), 73 million in Central and Southern Asia (9 per cent), 68 million in Europe and Northern America (14 per cent), 45 million in Latin America and the Caribbean (18 per cent), 29 million in Northern Africa and Western Asia (15 per cent), and 6 million in Oceania (34 per cent).

In addition to student abusing students, in the past we have had cases of teachers allegedly sexually abusing students. This has been around for years, but unfortunately, the culture of secrecy has seen such allegations reduced to mere rumors. This is due to the fact that within our education system, there exists an elitist attitude in which protecting the reputation of some of the top schools seems to take precedence over everything else, including the sexual assault of students.

Our children must be allowed to see school as a place of enlightenment and safety and not a cove for gaining sexual experience or fostering relations of the heart. Worse, in the St Joseph High School case the victims were bullied and had it not been for their resistance they would have been violated by the suspects. This behaviour in the school system is no different from what this nation learnt of when a senior government official was accused of raping a school girl multiple times. The Ministry of Education is encouraged to take a proactive position concerning relations between children and teachers. Historically, there have been cases where teachers have been known to have amorous relations with their students. In many cases, this has led to both parties marrying after the student would have left school. It is however important that such relations not be encouraged, especially considering the power and influence that a teacher wields over his or her pupils. This can lead to teachers of both genders taking advantage of the innocence and inexperience of our children.

If not yet in place a strict code must be enforced prohibiting such relations and any teacher found to be consorting, even in a non- sexual sense with a student should be debarred from teaching.
While we however set a code of ethics for our teachers, let us not delude ourselves over the realities of student-student relationships, many of which are flourishing and which also result in isolated cases of sexual experimentation. This is where parents need to play a more important role in ensuring that such relationships between students are discouraged. The problem of reducing sexual permissive conduct in our schools requires a collaborative effort between the educational authorities who should lay down the ground rules and implement a strong system of monitoring and enforcement, teachers who should be bound to a code of ethics, parents who must instill sound values in their children and the kids themselves who should report any person attempting amorous or sexual relations.

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Africa, perpetrators, Priya Manickchand, Stabroek News, Sub-Saharan

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