Youth and Sports Minister, Hon. Kenson Casimir highlights the importance of conflict resolution skills being taught by schools and parents. While acknowledging that he does not know the details surrounding the fight, Casimir says such altercations should not be had in schools.
“I do not know the circumstances which allowed a situation to erupt to that level, but it speaks to conflict resolution, the dynamics of family and how we teach our young people to co-exist,” Casimir said.
The recording depicted a girl in her school’s uniform tussling with another young lady. The video also shows two men trying to separate the two young ladies. However, according to popular interpretations of the video, one of the men lands a final blow to the face of the girl in uniform.
Casimir says he has not received confirmation of whether or not the student was actually hit. However, he implores parents and adults to be example-setters for minors and not showcase behaviour which would encourage violence. “We need to set the examples as parents, because we did see an adult being featured in the video. We need to teach young people what’s acceptable, but also what’s unacceptable.” Casimir continues his appeal to parents, urging them to take responsibility for their children’s behaviour. “We see a rise in gun violence, so it really speaks to whether or not we’ve done as much as we should as society in terms of parenting at home, our duties, social groups, our institutions, to really speak to young people to have them understand there are better ways to deal with conflict.”
Casimir underscores the need for effective communication in dispute resolution. He says people should not automatically resort to violence. “We can use all modalities in offering advice. We need to teach them how to speak, and if speaking doesn’t work, seek the help of a responsible adult - a teacher or police officer. We’ve all erred, we’ve all lost our tempers, but we need to ensure this does not happen again.”
Law enforcement is currently investigating the altercation between the student and other individuals.