Act now before things get worse

Although Ministry of Education officials and administrators at the Penal and Pleasantville Secondary Schools say there is no evidence of gang activities at those schools, that should not be the end of the matter.

They must address the concerns and allay the fears of parents and students by ensuring that at these schools—and all the others that might be susceptible—firm action is taken to weed out even the semblance of gang-related behaviour.

The investigations promised by Assistant Commissioner of Police Wayne Mystar should be fully supported by staff at these schools. As educators, fully aware of their responsibility to maintain their classrooms as safe spaces for learning, this should be their top priority.

The truth is that primary and secondary schools are vulnerable to the incidences and effects of the gangs that have infiltrated so many parts of this country. Gangsters consider children to be prime targets for recruitment and there have been reports that they are actively recruiting school children directly into their ranks.

This isn’t a recent development.

Eye on Dependency director Garth St Clair testified about this worrying development at a virtual public inquiry held by the National Security Joint Select Committee (JSC) on organised criminal gangs in 2021.

At the Caricom Crime Symposium last year, Social Development Minister Donna Cox revealed that the 5,362 secondary school students suspended during the 2022/23 academic year included a 12-year-old believed to be a gang leader.

So, while there is a reluctance by some education stakeholders to acknowledge the growing problem of criminal gangs in schools—probably due to a lack of well-defined criteria for assessing the elements of a criminal gang—the issue should not be ignored.

Even the perception of gang-related problems should be tackled head-on because the risk is that they will fester and severely disrupt the learning environment.

Gang activities, left unchecked and unidentified in a school setting, can rapidly escalate.

Over the past week, there has been growing concerns over reports of threats and intimidation, physical and cyberbullying and other disturbing behaviours on school campuses. There have also been numerous reports over the years of assault, vandalism and illegal drug trafficking in or near schools.

While there have been interventions, they seem to work only for a short while before there are more eruptions of violence and criminal activities involving students.

There is always the threat of violence and other disruptive activities in classrooms and schoolyards. However, despite assurances by Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, there is little evidence of a well-developed, strategic, collaborative plan to tackle violence and criminality in schools.

Before the worst fears of parents and students are realised, there should be preventative and proactive measures from education and law enforcement officials instead of the usual reactive steps.

That means developing a gang intervention process for schools based on prevention, intervention, and suppression.

Raising an awareness and understanding of the gang problem among teaching staff should be one of the components of a comprehensive plan developed with the involvement of law enforcement and other qualified professionals in the community.

It will take strong collaborations and consistent efforts to pinpoint potentially problematic situations, identify and deal decisively with gang-affiliated students and ensure the safety and well-being of youngsters who are at risk of becoming their victims.

That is why it is necessary to act now before things get worse.

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