FIGHTING SCHOOLGIRLS

Vidya Lall, senior researcher, Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of the West Indies, delivers a presentation on juveniule delinquency at Servol’s Pembroke Street, Port-of-Spain, office.

BY COREY CONNELLY

There is a high incidence of violence and disruptive behaviour among primary schoolgirls in T&T.

This was revealed by a random study conducted by the Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of the West Indies.

Funded in part by the US INL Programme, the ground-breaking study—titled An Impact Study of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Graduates: A Comparative Assessment With Servol—was conducted in March, 2006, by senior researcher Vidya Lall.

It focused on the ECCE model that has been used by Servol since the 1970s.

The study, undertaken during a six-month period, examined the attitudes of some 589 Standard Three students, as it related to juvenile delinquency, drug use, bullying and other forms of aggressive behaviour.

The students, aged nine to 11, were selected from 13 primary schools across the country.
Lall said 59 per cent of the girls surveyed admitted to disobeying and answering back teachers, while 51 per cent had been in fist fights.

Forty-three per cent, she added, admitted to answering back their parents, while 35 per cent said they had threatened to hit.

“While the girls' frequency might be less then the boys, the girls show rather high scores in violent and delinquent behaviour in schools...

“So, we have to note these trends very, very carefully,” Lall said, while presenting the results of the survey during a simple function at Servol's office on Pembroke Street in Port-of-Spain.

She said while the report provided an interim assessment of delinquency at the primary school level, it also indicated the need for a more comprehensive study of the cognitive, emotional and behavioural development of students after graduating from ECCE programmes.

Lall lamented, though, that the girls “appear to be following very closely on the heels of the young men.”

Giving an idea of how the boys fared in the report, Lall revealed that 74 per cent of them admitted to being in fist fights, while 72 per cent said they disobeyed their teachers.
Fifty-four per cent of them had threatened to hit.

Lall said the data mirrored trends in secondary schools.

“So we have to take stock with what our school intervention strategies are about,” she warned. “If we don’t attend to it now, this situation will probably get quite worse as time goes along.”
Criminologist Prof Ramesh Deosaran, who supervised the project, regarded the trends as disturbing.

“I think that is too much for the female population at that early stage. Even for the boys, at that young age, I do not think that these indicators give us any cause for comfort,” he said.
Copies of the report were distributed to representatives of the participating schools.

Now Miss Nice Looking Vidya. You only fockin giving me useless information.

I want to know what is the percentage of niggas givin all this trouble and the same for the coolies. Because I fockin dead sure is only niggas involved in this bad boy bad girl kinda imaging.

We would also like to know how the niggas take prick from early and ending up wid 5 fockin children when they reach 20.

These are what we would like to see and know.