That’s the forearm of a 3 year-old boy.
That’s the forearm of a 3 year-old boy who doesn’t like to go to his school in Milk River
That’s the forearm of a 3 year-old boy who doesn’t like to go to his school in Milk River where he was beaten by his teacher.
That’s the forearm of a 3 year-old boy who doesn’t like to go to his school in Milk River where he was beaten by his teacher who said she didn’t think that the belt would have cut the child.
On Thursday, April 23, the child’s parent posted this note on Facebook: “when i went to pick up my 3 year old baby from school this is what he show mi say him teacher beat him when mi go to her about it this woman a go tell mi say she didnt know say it did a go cut him…tell what a baby could have done fi this happen to him you know say this little boy always a tell mi him dont want to go to school i always a say him dont like school i didnt know say a these things a go on make the baby dont want to go school……if mi fi beat the shit out a that bitch you would hear how mi go on like mi bad…….and yes this happen in milk river…..people please share this because it need to stop help mi protect the youths”
The responses were full of outrage, expressed in characteristically violent Jamaican ways:
“Mi belly move. If a even one rass lick mi would a afi get off a dah teacher deh. one good one, weh is ider it cripple had har or it make she feel some sort a constant pain so every time she try lick another baby she rem. And if mi fi go a jail mi naan stay long and daddy will take care till mi cum back”
“Weh teacher cud ah tell me seh ah baby do that u beat him an cut him oh fada god u see an u know smh an sigh”
“I’d find somebody to hold her and beat her cut up her skin same way”
“Me nuh done wid you bitch me a beat you, me sister dem a beat you, you a get a box each from me brother dem a throw give me mother after mek she screw out you fucking head and throw it back give you.”
“she should b glad its u because me nah ask no question one bcl lick she a pick up inna a rass face….. at ma son school if him run a drop dem have fi call and explain… me no run joke wit ma son yuh madddd.”
“If it was me like tht mother god know seh prison wouldn’t mis mi when mi done with that teacher caz what mek the situation even worst is the teacher facety comment, if a did mi she tell bout she never know seh it would cut the bby!!!!! God know seh mi would just Tek something an mash up r face”
Whether the commenters advocated for or rejected giving the teacher a physical taste of her own medicine, responses actively called for the parent to report the situation to the police, principal, Ministry of Education, and Office of Children’s Advocacy, they all called for *action*.
I don’t know what the parent has done since then since he has not posted anything. He did note that he declined to tell his mother about the situation, for fear or exacerbating her health condition.
At any rate, you can read all the responses here: https://www.facebook.com/weldon.johnson.12/posts/940135076031134?pnref=story
I feel angry about what the teacher has done to that child: she has been busy trying to break his spirit – and that of the other children, for a while now. Honestly, if that were my child, I would have had to take several deep breaths when that teacher said what she did. I most certainly would have wanted to wring her neck and slap her into next year, much like the commenters have expressed.
But I already know that seeking redress in all kinds of other ways would be far more effective and long-lasting.
I also know that she’s a creature of the system.
As such, empathy goes only so far: I know that this type of harm would not come to my child. He’s not in that kind of system; other types of harm, for sure, but not this.
I know that this happened to this man’s son because the schooling system in Jamaica has regularly and consistently treated the children of the working classes in dehumanizing ways. Our elders recount stories and legends of teachers who used to cane, whip, and otherwise physically maim the children who came from the less-privileged groups.
Some commenters shared their own stories:
“Teach that teacher a lesson and others because she is not going to stop it happened to me when I was in grade 1 I am in my 30s and I remember my parents is Christians so they didn’t take it up every time I remember my eye that she lick me in hurts abuse is going on in school has well teachers doing it ”
And yet, the current Minister of Education, Ronald Thwaites flip-flops on an issue that is already enshrined in The Child Care and Protection Act. In November 2012, he took one stance on the situation; In February 2015 he stated that it is ok for schools – principals, not teachers – to treat children in these degrading ways.
Not surprisingly, even the parents sometimes give the teachers permission to beat the children. It’s what they know, understand, experienced, and uncritically accept. Doing violence to children is traditional.
I feel really sad for this parent who feels like he has such limited options in seeking justice for his child. Clearly, educating parents about their rights and responsibilities is not part of what this – o any? – basic school in Jamaica does.
Turning to Facebook and “calling dung crowd” to bear witness to both the harm done to his child, and his hurt and righteous anger as a father who loves his child makes sense in this digital age. His stated aim is to prevent this from happening to other children. By his own admission, he has seen it happen at this school before:
“but i said something and i went the b4 and next teacher was beating a next kid and i said something but now its my kid ”
Interestingly, he’s counting on the post becoming viral and thus reaching the eyes and ears of the Ministry of Education, instead of trying to contact them directly. He didn’t publish the name of the school, or any information that people can act on. Nobody can directly call or visit to pressure the principal to do something. Mind you, Milk River is small so there could only be a few basic schools there. Notably, he was cautioned by one person to report the station, but not to do anything that would cause the teacher to lose her job:
“Take it up with the principal and make sure the incident is documented. Also make sure the incident is reported at the police station but don’t file any charges. Time is hard and you don’t want the teacher to be fired. Maybe this will be her wake up call that she should never do something like this again”
But that’s exactly what should happen – she does not need to work with any children again.
In a way though, I feel sad for the teacher who is so limited and simple-minded that she could not even see why her actions are hostile and harmful to all children and counterproductive to their education.
But what’s troubling to me is this:
1) The fact that the child told his parent that he did not want to go to school, but the parent chose not to listen. What did the child see or experience at school to lead him to feel this way? The parent doesn’t ask. Instead, he takes for granted that he knows best, that the school is the best and safest place for the child, and brings the child to the school anyway, right into harm’s way. And the harm is physical as well as psychological:
“the sad thing about it the boy dont like go school because him say him a go get beating”
At the age of 3 years old, children should see school as fun, not as a place where they are going to be tortured with rote memorization or with a belt. That is simply unacceptable and the Early Childhood Commission needs to step in and say something about this!
Whether we are talking about teachers mistreating children, or adults sexually violating children, the issue is the same: many, I would argue most, working-class Jamaican parents do not listen to their children, do not respect their children’s voices, feelings and views, and often, albeit unintentionally, both affirm and contribute to the harm that their children are experiencing. This is a legacy of plantation slavery and our colonial past, a reflection of the deep commitment to social hierarchies that we have inherited and accepted. The ugly social truth is that we only listen and pay attention to our social equals and those above us. Everyone else is dismissed, their concerns trivialized.
Children are not perceived or treated as the social equals of adults. Instead, we assume they know and understand nothing separate from what they are taught by adults. And so, when it comes to adults’ relationship to children, it is sad and painful to watch the way that adults dismiss children: Hush up, yuh chat tummuch! Nuh badda mi – yuh ask tummuch question! Guh siddung an tap i nize a mi head! And when they become adults, they often turn around and treat their children the same way.
If there’s anything to be learned from this situation, it is that adults in Jamaica need to show *all* children respect. We need to listen. No matter how much this father loves his son, and no matter that he provides emotional and financial support for them, the one thing that his children need more than anything is to be able to count on him for protection. In his own quiet moments, I can’t imagine that he feels great about not having listened in the first place. But I hope that he learns this very important lesson: he cannot protect his child from what he doesn’t know about. The only way to know is to ask questions and listen carefully.
2) Despite the clear evidence of harm to this child, this parent and many of the commenters still believe, just like the teacher does, that beating children is ok, just not too hard, in the right places, and only the ones who deserve it.
Says the parent: “if you did know this little boy you would see whats wrong with it if you talk loud to him he cry and him twin brother stay cry to so there was no need to beat mi baby”
Really? So if he was not a sensitive child, he would deserve to be beaten?
There is actually a “need” to beat other children?
Others respond similarly: “I don support ppl putting mark on kids body like that dose not matter circumstances don hit a child like that”
“If She Even A Slap Him She Can Do It Inna Him Hand Middle!! This Hurt Me I Swear, A Teacher Did This To Me When I Was 6 And I Had A Big Dark Mark On My Hand For 5 Years”
My favorite comment was this one:
“Am not saying she have any right to beat that kindergarten child.. she is wrong, bt I think corporal punishment should b in school.. these last a days students don’t have any manners what’s to ever . Look at the rate our education level at, they r more prostitutes,lesbians,gays and don in schools than in the working world.. again am not saying she have any right to hit that baby she’s wrong”
In other words, don’t throw the system of cruelty out just because we don’t like what happened to one child that we know and like. It’s still important to beat the “bad” ones; save the good ones.
Well, the teacher felt the same way.
By her response, you understand that:
– this little boy was one of the bad ones at the moment
– she beat him because he deserved it
– her only regret is that she hit him too hard, not that she hit him at all
– next time, she will do it softer and in a place that won’t bear the marks
This is the kind of fucked-up logic that Jamaican people use to hold on to this barbaric practice of beating children. But, at least, the commenters were being consistent in their commitment to violence. Beat the “bad” children *and* beat the teacher who beat the “good” children. The take-home message? Violence is the answer for anything that bothers you.
There are a lot of issues in here that need to be fleshed out.
But at this point, suffice it to say that Jamaican working-class parents really need to transform the role that they play in the education system and how they relate to their children’s education. They also need to have a strong voice in schools and promote just and ethical treatment of their children in schools.
The mis-directives from the Ministry of Education continue to create the perfect scenario for teachers to abuse children and to get away with it.
All of this makes me think that there needs to be serious examination of how Jamaican adults think about children in the first place.