Form One student slaps teacher, police intervene

A teacher of a leeward secondary school was this week nursing facial bruises received at the hands of a student of the school.

And, the police had to be called in the deal with the situation which had escalated.

A source close to the issue told SEARCHLIGHT that the situation with the male Form One student began on Monday February, 26, 2024 when he went to a classroom and destroyed furniture belonging to another form one student in the presence of a teacher.

The teacher told the affected student that since his furniture had been destroyed, he had all rights to the furniture of the aggressor.

In response, the aggressor student is said to have confronted the teacher using expletives and coming in close contact with her. As a form of defence, the teacher pushed away the student who then proceeded to slap off the cornered teacher.

Defending herself the teacher retaliated with a slap of her own.

The student is then said to have gone around the school’s compound bragging about what he did. The dissatisfied teacher hearing of this, went in search of the student but several members of staff attempted to prevent her from locating the student who was apparently hiding on the school compound.

SEARCHLIGHT was told that when the situation de-escalated the principal informed the teacher that she was wrong to retaliate; instead she should have stepped back when the student went up in her face.

The principal reportedly also told the mother of the student that her son should remain at home, but he returned to school the following day informing the principal that his mother had not told him he should remain at home.

On that same day the groundsman caught the student with a sharp object on the school’s compound and confronted him. The student also disrespected the groundsman.

The student was then handed a 10 day suspension, but teachers and students were said to be equally surprised when the student returned to school one day later, Wednesday February, 28, 2024.

An auxiliary officer on the compound at that time called the Chateaubelair Police Station for assistance in having the student removed from the school’s compound.

When the police arrived, the student fled.

Chateaubelair police have told SEARCHLIGHT that when they approached the principal to get an understanding of the matter, they were told not to take away the student so as to avoid the student appearing as a criminal.

Persons reported seeing the student in the community after the police left.

SEARCHLIGHT has further learnt that this was not the first incident of its kind and teachers at the school are often victims of abuse from students. Someone with knowledge about the school also said that when reports are made to the principal the students are often given a slap on the wrist and they are convinced that this leads to them repeating their actions.

The individual said that the teachers at the institution often feel like their cries are not being heard, and they in a bid to be transferred from the school, they resort to conduct that would lead to the principal writing them up.

SEARCHLIGHT also learnt that the police were at the school on Monday attending to another situation before the incident occurred between the student and the teacher on that same day.