The incident at the Lodge Community High School (LCHS) in which a student struck a teacher on his head causing a fractured skull has led to protest action by the teachers of the school.
Minister of Education Dr. Henry Jeffrey later said the security of teachers will be addressed.
He also noted that the Ministry has a manual for discipline in schools. He believes that if this is used, problems of indiscipline will be reduced.
The manual states that corporal punishment should be a last resort as a means of disciplining a student. And when this has to be done, the Head teacher should perform the act minimally.
It also states that students may be suspended and recommendations for suspension may be made.
The Government Information Agency (GINA) asked members of the public what they thought of corporal punishment implemented in schools.
Here is what they are saying:
Berkley Bristol: I think that corporal punishment should be re-introduced in schools. At the moment there is chaos in the schools and students wanting to do their own thing. Students would feel that they can no longer be punished by teachers and do what they want to and so on. Hence, they would lose respect and regard for teachers.
Sabrina Sattaur: As a teacher it is very difficult because you find that children get out of hand and when you try to discipline them parents keep coming to you. I think that corporal punishment should be brought back into schools, because punishment is not allowed in schools and children are behaving worse than they used to be.
Neil Khan: Right now they are not being disciplined enough considering what happened when I use to go to school. You have students talking back to teachers and being rude. And apart from that some of the teachers are looking like students, so they cannot decide who is who sometimes, thereby causing the "eye pass." In some cases teachers don't have the physical structure to deal with these students. In my time they had 'strapping teachers' and you couldn't think about giving them rudeness.
I think they have to re-introduce corporal punishment in the school because the young people have no respect for their elders and they need to bring back punishment to tighten up the schools. And I think they need to bring it back now, because if they wait too long it will definitely get out of control. It would end up like North America.
Michael Drepaul: I think they need to discipline children. However, in some cases teachers go overboard, but at the same time students need to be disciplined but teachers have to do it in the right way.
Lavern Ross: If a child does something in school and it gets out of hand as a teacher you have to discipline him. But I think the teacher should call in the parents and have some kind of meeting and work something out.
Terrence Drepaul: I think that students should be disciplined, but I don't think that the teachers should beat them at their whims and fancies for wrong answers. But I think if children are in violation of the school rules they should definitely be disciplined. If not we will have anarchy in this country and we are already seeing it.
Ann Pollydore: In the years gone by children used to be punished in many ways, but now the parents have caused a lot of what is happening in the school today. In many cases the parents want to go into the school and attack the teachers. Notwithstanding, they have teachers who have problems and want to take it out on the children. But I am in agreement to discipline students in schools. Now look at that incident with the Lodge student. I believe that the mother should have taken the son to the Ministry of Education or the Police Station. He did something wrong, and I do not think that the mother should be hiding the child. If you do not punish them you will get a generation of criminals.
Rosalyn Crandon: The children are getting out of hand and I think corporal punishment is the way to control these children, so that we can get a better generation of children.