By MEGAN REYNOLDS
Tribune Staff Reporter
mreynolds@tribunemedia.net:
"DIRTY secrets" of sexual molestation will no longer be kept in government schools, as Minister of Education Desmond Bannister warned hundreds of teachers that complaints of a sexual nature will not be ignored.
In the first all-day seminar on sexual abuse in schools organised by the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) for male staff yesterday, Mr Bannister informed them of the strict protocol by which all complaints are investigated.
All men who teach at New Providence government schools were invited to the seminar, said to be the first of its kind in Bahamian history, and those schools that did not comply with the invitation will not have the opportunity to do so again, Mr Bannister warned.
He called on hundreds of educators who filled the All Saints Anglican Church and Community Centre hall in Joan's Heights, off East Street South, to live up to their legal, moral and professional responsibility to protect school students by reporting all suspicions of abuse and never turning a blind eye.
"We know that these things are happening and we cannot as parents, as law-abiding citizens, or as teachers to allow it to continue," Mr Bannister said.
"You can expect, when a matter is reported, that it will be investigated thoroughly, and the necessary action will be taken.
"There is no sweeping the matter under the rug.
"For too long we have been keeping these little dirty secrets, far too many people have washed their hands of these matters.
"The important thing is to put a stop to it, address it and ensure our children are protected. They go to school to learn, not to be destroyed or victimised."
A Sexual Complaints Unit established at the Ministry of Education last year is mandated to investigate all allegations of sexual abuse across the islands and has already launched investigations to the alleged abuse of at least 18 schoolchildren in Andros and Eleuthera this year.
The Minister assured teachers that the team, including an investigator, attorney, and school psychologist will thoroughly examine all allegations to protect both students and teachers as he said he understands how they too can be vulnerable to allegations of abuse.
Leader of the Sexual Complaints Unit Sterling Gardiner informed the male teachers how the unit operates, while Attorney General's office lawyer Neil Braithwaite informed them of the legal implications and motivational speaker, family therapist Dr Wayne Thompson addressed the emotional issues attached to sexual abuse.
The first seminar of its kind invited men only as men are the perpetrators in the majority of sex abuse cases in Bahamian schools. However there is scope for building on the initial one day seminar which is the first to address the accountability of teachers in sexual abuse claims on such a scale.
Invitations were sent to schools across the island, which closed at midday yesterday, and Mr Bannister said those who did not accept the invitation will be required to attend next time.
The men attending the seminar objected to the presence of a woman reporter covering the event, and The Tribune's reporter was removed from the room by BUT president Belinda Wilson.
April 01, 2010
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