The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE parent involved in the recent incident at Central Eleuthera High School where a teacher was allegedly almost attacked has been arrested and will “hopefully” be charged, said Belinda Wilson, president of the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) yesterday.

On the sidelines of an event at the Ministry of Education, Mrs Wilson said after a series of meetings with education officials and law enforcement on Wednesday, one parent has been arrested, with the affected teacher left traumatised and seeking counselling.

“There were a series of meetings yesterday (Wednesday). The parent has been arrested and there is a meeting today with the district superintendent and the principal. I have also been in contact with the police and the acting director (of education),” she said.

“So we are going to ensure that parents realise and know that the school is not a free for all. If there is a problem, if you’ve been called to a parent-teacher conference then you come and you conduct yourself accordingly,” Mrs Wilson said.

“I hope that this parent is charged and gets the full extent of the law that is in this instance,” she said.

About the teacher that was allegedly almost attacked, Mrs Wilson said: “She is traumatised and she actually said that she thinks she is going to take some time off. She has sought medical attention and some counselling. So it’s serious, it’s traumatising and we don’t take it lightly.”

Mrs Wilson’s comments come after a principal and teacher were allegedly almost attacked in the principal’s office at Central Eleuthera High School after being called to a parent-teacher conference to discuss the behaviour of the parent’s child in class.

“She never touched the teacher, but she burst into the principal’s office, she did not have permission to be on the campus in the first place, she bypassed security and police and entered the principal’s office without being invited and she picked up an object to hit the teacher with. The principal was able to intervene,” Mrs Wilson said.

Mrs Wilson recommended that both the parent and child involved in the incident seek professional counselling and intervention.

“The parent, she needs some parenting classes, she needs to go and get some conflict-resolution. Because even after all of this it’s alleged they were on Facebook and they’re putting insults on Facebook against the teacher and even her son has now sent out a voice note,” she said.

“The child is a 15-year-old. This child has been in numerous incidents and he has really shown a lot of rudeness and we believe he should also get some counselling and intervention,” Mrs Wilson said.

“We have had a lot of instances like this previously, but it has slowed down and I believe the police being on the campuses now, along with them gathering intelligence and assisting the security officers, I think that should minimise incidents like this,” she said.

In view of this recent incident, as well as another incident at Patrick J Bethel High School in Marsh Harbour last week, where there was some inappropriate touching that is still being investigated, Acting education director Dominique McCartney-Russell offered some advice for parents and students on school campuses.

“We want to encourage our children when they get into their spaces with their classmates that they ought to know how to behave with one another. We encourage them with good social practices. We want them to ensure that they do not touch any other student inappropriately, no form of touching that would warrant us investigating,” Mrs Dominique McCartney- Russell said.

“And for our parents, we encourage our parents to always have conversations with their children. You know learning starts at home and so we believe that parents should ensure that children also know what is not appropriate in any environment and that is for our girls and our boys,” she said.