Kamla vows ‘justice’ for bullied teen who ended his life

The Opposition has promised to ensure justice is served for a Form Four St Stephen’s College student who ended his life after allegedly being bullied for some time.

In a Facebook post this weekend, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said there were reports that the 15-year-old Jayden Lalchan suffered tremendously over an extended period from abuse and bullying.

“If these allegations are proven to be true, justice must be served on all who terrorised this beautiful child and all who turned a blind eye to his suffering.

“I will ensure that a heavy price will be paid by all those involved in tormenting and terrorising this child into taking his own life. May he finally find peace in the arms of God,” the former prime minister said.

During the United National Congress’ weekly press briefing, yesterday morning, Member of Parliament for Chaguanas East Vandana Mohit supported Persad-Bissessar’s call for justice.

She said that her colleague Barry Padarath visited the victim’s family on Saturday.

“We say enough is enough, and it is time for the Government to act and step up…We continue to call on the Government to expand beyond a hotline and deal with the issues of school bullying and suicides in Trinidad and Tobago. Get these programmes into the schools, so that children can speak out, speak to someone and seek the assistance that they need,” she said.

Mohit also claimed Government was failing to manage children’s homes across the country. There are ongoing and deeply troubling failures in the homes, she claimed.

In response, Gender and Child Affairs Minister Ayanna Webster Roy said she was deeply saddened by the news of the young boy’s death, saying that her heart goes out to his family.

“As a parent, myself, I can only imagine the immense pain and sorrow they must be experiencing.

“On 13th May, I had the opportunity to share with Members of Parliament a valuable resource developed by the GORTT in partnership with UNICEF to address mental health challenges in children and young people. This information had already reached schools, homes, and public platforms before I presented it to my colleagues,” Minister Webster-Roy said.

She provided a list of youth mental health programmes and resources available. They included youngcaribbeanminds.com, which features a directory of mental health services in T&T; Community Caravan, which aims to increase awareness of child abuse and prevention efforts; the Child Rights Ambassadors Programme, which intends to empower youths aged 12 to 18.; as well as the launch of Youth Mental Health Resources and Active Talk, a UNICEF-funded initiative.

According to the documents, more than $42.4 million was disbursed to St Jude’s, St Mary’s and St Dominic’s Children Homes to care for 157 children.

‘Strong must protect the weak’

Meanwhile, Kevin Ratiram, the President of Rapidfire Kidz Foundation—a non-governmental organisation dedicated to assisting children said he doesn’t believe there’s one specific solution for bullying in schools.

He said each case needs to be analysed, with specific interventions identified.

“I know that the MoE has a National School Discipline Matrix Policy, which mandates school principals to refer bullying cases to the Student Support Services Division (which has various child experts) and to have a conference with the parent/guardian. It also allows schools to suspend the offender.

“I can’t say if this has been effective or not. I doubt that we can ever totally eradicate school bullying. But our aim must be to minimise it as much as possible. I think a scientific approach is needed,” the child advocate and attorney said.

He added that parents and the community also have roles to play. Ratiram said children must be taught from young that it’s not okay to bully others.

“As a society, we must teach our children that the strong are supposed to protect the weak, not take advantage of them,” Ratiram said.

During a peace walk last week, President of the Parent-Teacher Association at St Stephen’s College Anand Deonarine said bullying was affecting schools throughout T&T.

He said then, “As head of the PTA, I must stand with parents and address bullying at St Stephen’s College.

“We are calling on the administration to take a zero-tolerance approach to bullying in our school. Regardless of what happens, if one child is bullied, that one child is important.”

If you or anyone you know has been battling thoughts of self-harm please contact Lifeline at 800-5588; Childline 800-4321 or the 24-Hour Suicide Prevention Hotline 800– COPE (2673).

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