T&T Sex, drugs, violence in schools
By Cecily Asson Sunday, February 28 2016
Colin (not his real name) revealed that it was his mother, a chronic ganja (marijuana) smoker who introduced him to the drug.
The Enterprise teenager confessed to school officials last week, that at the age of 13, she taught him how to smoke it and now three years later, he too is hooked on the herb. There are several photographs of mother and son together lighting up and smoking their “spliff †- these photographs are now in the hands of the police officers as investigations continue into illegal activities of some students attending the Chaguanas North Secondary School.
Police in their investigations also discovered used condoms in classrooms on the compound.
The Central school shot into the headlines after reports of a “hit†to be carried out at the institution that is situated in the residential area of Lange Park, Chaguanas.
According to reports, two Fridays ago, classes at the school were cancelled after school officials learnt of a plan to infiltrate the school by gangsters, some of them were to be dressed in school uniform. Soldiers and police intervened in time to save what many said would have been a major catastrophe.
Last Monday there was also high level intervention from Education Minister Anthony Garcia, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon and officials of their ministries during a visit to the school. Certain measures have since been put in place, among them, increased police presence outside the school every day.
Colin is among 24 teenaged students, including girls, all from the troubled Enterprise, Chaguanas who have since been identified and deemed trouble-makers at Chaguanas North Secondary School. They are said to have their roots in gangs from their hometown “Muslims†and “Rasta City†who now head their own gangs at school. A total of ten students have since been sent on suspension, Sunday Newsday was told while another student has appeared in court charged with assault by threatening to inflict bodily harm on a female teacher. Officials told Sunday Newsday that there is a total breakdown of discipline at the school with those in authority fearing for their own lives. They are afraid of the students, many of whom are said to be violent and often threaten to kill teachers.
“The school can get back on track, but the teachers must stand firm and maintain law and order in the classrooms,†said a source close to the investigations now being conducted at the school.
“This school is plagued with drugs, sex and violence - some of the male students are before the courts for various misdemeanours ranging from drug possession, robbery, theft - there are also many complaints from the girls about sexual harassment from their male peers.†Following the February 19 scare at the school, Sunday Newsday was informed that several students were taken into a room and questioned, as those in authority tried to get to the root of the problem.
The source told Sunday Newsday: “I can tell you first of all what we discovered was that the delinquent students cannot read and they are preparing for CXC, those giving trouble are Form Four and Five students. They are the ones who “tax†(demand money) the younger students mainly from lower Forms One and Two - if they don’t pay they will be beat them.†The youngsters, he went on to say, are “taxed†from as little as one dollar to as high as three dollars to use the toilet and even to reach the cafeteria.
A warrant was issued last Wednesday for a 15-year-old student of Enterprise who hit another student in the head with a metal chair and wounded him.
The matter was brought to the attention of the Education Minister, Garcia, during his visit to the school last Monday.
Sunday Newsday was also told of the prevalence of marijuana which is openly being sold at the school. Reports are that three students, who are said to be related to a well-known businessman in Central Trinidad, are running their drug blocks in the school. The source continued: “They are selling marijuana for the drug man, they have a neat operation running at the school. Each student has their job to do, who is the lookout man, who collecting the money, who doing the pick-up and things like that.†Sunday Newsday was told that marijuana is often thrown over the school fence for the students.
The large number of used condoms found inside abandoned classrooms tells the story of high sexual activity at the school.
“There is high activity of sexual intercourse in the school,†the source added, “imagine one girl speaking of having sex with about 15 male students, something is wrong.†The breakdown of moral and spiritual values of the students is not all to be blamed on the teachers.
“Your first teacher is your parent,†he said. Sunday Newsday was further told that while interviewing the students, officials learnt they had similar problems. “They came from broken homes, they all lived in Enterprise and on morning many of them left home without having breakfast because there was none. Some of them don’t even know their fathers as they are not in the picture at all.†There were one or two students among the 24, the source said, who “just wanted to be part of the crowd.†“One mother broke down crying since it was not the way she had raised her son and he had given in to peer pressure.†But during the interaction with officials, the students had issues of their own which they said caused them to react in a certain way at school at times.
Some students, he said, complained of “rampant racism†by teachers forcing them to respond to how they were being treated.
There were also complaints about them not being given a fair hearing.
“They believe they don’t have a voice when the matter reaches the principal’s office and no one wants to hear their side of the story,†related the source.
Teacher absenteeism and being fed-up of teachers who just walk into the classroom, put the work on the board and walk away, not teaching at all, were also added to the students’ long list of complaints.
Saying that the breakdown of discipline was evident, the source said many students have received suspensions for using scratch bombs, for taxing, for abusive and insulting language to teachers, wearing incorrect uniforms including footwear, their choice of hairstyles, and a host of other infractions.
Officers of the Chaguanas Police Station have been blamed for allowing the situation at the school to get out of hand, but not so said one senior officer speaking to Sunday Newsday.
