St George Secondary School Principal Dennis Browne criticised the public release of a study linking his secondary school to the majority of young offenders on remand, warning that such publication risks unfairly stigmatising teachers and students working to improve outcomes.
“Last month, something happened that had me boiling. It stayed in my heart for some time. I think this would be the best time to relieve myself of such a heavy, burdened load,” he told his school’s speech day and prize-giving ceremony on Friday, as he showed a short clip of the study’s findings, which examined 47 young offenders under 25 years of age — 46 men and one woman.
The report, An Examination of the Social Histories of Accused Young Offenders Under 25 Years of Age on Remand at the Barbados Prison Service, revealed that a small number of public secondary schools, mostly serving densely populated working-class communities, featured prominently in the offenders’ educational backgrounds.
St George Secondary accounted for the largest share of those on remand at 15 per cent, followed by Graydon Sealy and Parkinson Memorial schools at 13 per cent each. Other schools, including St Leonard’s Boys’, Princess Margaret and Frederick Smith, contributed nine per cent each, while Coleridge and Parry and Daryll Jordan each accounted for six per cent.
Browne insisted that while he supported the study’s intention, its public reporting was deeply troubling.
“I agree with the survey to try to delve deep into the issues that our youth are experiencing,” he said. “But what could have been another way of reporting it? Why couldn’t that report be forwarded to the Ministry of Education and let the schools be informed? Why did it have to be a public report?”
He highlighted the potential for misinterpretation by the general public: “The layman out there, who may not understand statistics, may not understand that out of those 47 inmates who were surveyed, seven were from St George Secondary School. The [other] principals needed to come out and speak on this. I’m upset about it; very upset.”
Browne said he was particularly frustrated because the report overlooked the work schools are doing to mould students into productive citizens. “We as a staff, schools, we’re working hard to change behaviours, to develop our students into productive citizens. We’re working really hard. These are children that are not our own.”
He stressed that his anger was directed at the reporting rather than the survey itself, which he said brought valuable insights. “I am only angry with the reporting, not against the survey, because the survey also shed light that schools need to be more vigilant because of the use and abuse of drugs. It brings us awareness of what is causing some of the issues that we may see in our schools. So I’m happy with the survey. I’m upset with the reporting.”
Senior research analyst Kirt Goodridge, who presented the findings in November, said the study showed many of the young men had struggled in school before entering the justice system. “Most of the inmates, 83 per cent, didn’t finish secondary school,” he said. “Many dropped out around age 15, often before sitting key exams. Suspensions were common. Eighty-three per cent were suspended at least once, and many faced repeated disciplinary action.”
The study also revealed that most of the cohort were Barbadian (94 per cent), with small numbers from Guyana (four per cent) and Jamaica (two per cent), and that the average time spent on remand was five years.
(SZB)
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