Some parents blocking disciplinary efforts in schools
Education leaders have highlighted resistance among some parents, which undermines the government’s ability to curb escalating violence and bad behaviour in schools.
Administrators are calling for urgent cooperation that is needed to keep campuses safe.
Chief Education Officer Orlandette Crabbe has said some parents are unfortunately standing in the way of interventions that could help their children turn their lives around.
“One of the things that we find is that we meet a lot of resistance from parents,” Crabbe said. “Parents, you have to work with us. You have to support attempts to really provide the kind of intervention that some children will need. It doesn’t mean that something is wrong with your child. I had a conversation with a parent and she said she doesn’t want us to label her child. But what we’re saying is your child has some special educational needs… and that’s okay.”
Crabbe said many students who display violent or disruptive behaviour in secondary school started struggling academically in primary school, but were not given enough support or early intervention. “When they get to high school, a lot of their character has already developed,” she said. “But we see certain patterns at primary school, and if we provide intervention, then we have a greater opportunity of making an impact and really changing their trajectory.”
Education Minister Sharie de Castro echoed the warning, saying that while the ministry has “zero tolerance” for serious misbehaviour, it has invested in robust intervention programmes and alternative education pathways to help troubled students get back on track.
“We have a very robust process in place, and we are saying that we will help, we will support — but the education system cannot be everything to everybody,” de Castro said. “There are instances where students have to be temporarily removed from the school environment to get intervention, to seek support… based on expert advice.”
The minister said progress has been made, with some students successfully reintegrating into full-day school after receiving targeted support. She also highlighted the government’s partnership with police, the Ministry of Health and Social Development, the Governor’s Office, and other agencies to implement a territory-wide violence reduction strategy.
But officials warned that none of these efforts can succeed if parents block disciplinary actions or refuse to accept professional recommendations.
Their warnings come as the leaders continue to work to stem a rise in misconduct across all secondary schools. In just the first two months of 2025, more than 85 students were suspended for various forms of misconduct that posed a risk to themselves and their school communities.
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This is why persons needs to love the job or else it wouldnt make sense putting up with disorderly conduct it brings stress by 50 and if they have children that stress goes home with them. No wonder some teachers always look old after years of dedicated service.
Some parents themselves are undisciplined…apples do not bear oranges. On the other hand, I have seen some children have to muscle the burden of parenting their own parents.
You see that nonsense ESHS has about being absent if you’re late – put an end to that hindrance on overall performance.
Students are not responsible for arrival to school.
Some parents can’t even get to their jobs at 8:30am with the constant traffic delays despite leaving home early. Jobs have grace periods for that and other reasons and so should schools.
Imagine a child has to go to the doctor or other unforeseen/uncontrollable circumstance and arrive at school to be marked absent with a reason. They should NOT be marked absent AT ALL. They SHOWED UP.
Some ESHS teachers FIRST ought to LEARN how to speak to children. They need to be reviewed by their students just like they are reviewed by their supervisors. Students voices should be heard.
There are teachers trying to limit children from wearing watches that look like a smart watch because of the shape of face when it can clearly be checked that it is not. Do they even know that many watches with the hands are also smart watches?
Training teachers without having students’ feedback is a waste of time.
Who’s running the school,The parents or the government?
This article concerns the state schools in the BVI and parents interference with school discipline. State schools provide free education for parents children. Independent schools charge parents tuition for education so they can interfere with school discipline. If parents are not satisfied with school discipline they can move their children to another independent school.
In response to State v Independent schools.
In can also work the other way around. A parent may withdraw a child from an independent school due to not wanting to accept the school’s recommendation that the child needs intervention for unruly behaviour. The truth of the matter being, that intervention may find the parent to be at fault.
Hence, the child is transferred to a State School.
The Minister’s reference to “troubled students” leads to an important insight to the problem. That being, troubled students are the product of troubled parents. This is all the more relevant when the term “parents” is singular and the child is fatherless.
Even more distressing are the instances where the absent father has been forcibly alienated from the child’s life by way of separation and divorce.
A child has a basic need for both a mother and a father.
Parents can say and do as they please for two reasons:
1) They are not paying for the ooffsprings education, therefore it is taken foro granted.
Add a fee to educate their children and watch a shift in their attitude and see a difference in them.
2) Create and put teeth, enforcement and student expectatons in behavior into the governing laws, and enforce them with a none sense approach.
Strong educational law enforcement with monetary consequences are needed to turn campus life into what it was created for, teaching, learning and developing young minds, not catering to rude and untrained young people.
3) Consequences should become very severe for those who cannot or refuse to adhere to the laws and by laws that govern that educatonal society.
apple dont fall from the tree
the parents is either ghetto, criminals, weed heads, party animals who procreate and bring monsters into this world being worst than them
either that is the generation of parents who doing the “soft parenting” nonsense at the cost of the youths being super egoistical and feel them could wa them wan cuz they never got any harsh punishments
then they send there rude kids to school to cuz chaos for their poor life choices and poor partners they settle for
Don’t forget our own government officials and persons of importance. We have millions of dollars go missing, and business owners taking money out of employees wages and not paying Social Security and NHI with absolutely no accountability. Jean and Dinah, Rosita and Clemintina all out on the corner posing in broad daylight. The BVI is in a state of moral decay and it shows in our children. Who to blame? It is ourselves.
Don’t forget our own government officials and business owners. When you have millions of dollars routinely going missing, and employers extracting money from employees wages but not paying SS and NHI – all with absolutely no accountability, what do you expect? Meanwhile, you have Jean and Dina, Rosita and Clemintina out on the corner posing in broad day light. The BVI is in a state of moral decay and it shows in our children. Who to blame? We can only blame ourselves. Spare the rod and spoil the child can be applied to many adults in the BVI…
We always blaming children and young people for all the problems in the world. But we forgot that parents are always disobedient to God and his word like Adam and Eve.
I’ve seen the difference from a parent that spend time with their kid and one that doesn’t. Some parents probably believe that the school is meant to teach there kids everything all while believe there only job is to feed and get them from point A to B. Being a parent is a blessing that not all will receive and you as parents should cherish it.
The youths Getting hooked on drugs and whether you want believe it or not yhe way they are carrying is just some of the ” side effects ” of the kind of drugs that they are on . and don’t be surprised if dome of the parents are on it too and is not aware ( the
new kinds of fancy drugs can be slipped in your drinks / your food or whatever ever you smoking etc and you get hooked unintentionally / and its being manufactured in ” Santo ” so the Spaniards controlling the distribution in cosmetics etc / its even being smuggled inside VEGATEBLES as a way to outsmart customs ( hey, whatever happened to the ( K-9 )?
Like any other discipline they are policies, rules procedure to be followed. If they refused to, it is simple, it mean they do not want to be a part of such discipline body, or organizarion, give them their walking ticket let their stupid parents home school them. Or pay for their education. Milliom of children around the world want to go to school, crying, can’t get to go school and these previlidge children playing around.
Personally, I am a very present parent. Her father and I do drop offs, random daily drop ins to touch bases with the teacher and check on our child, as well as pick ups. I’ve obervered that there are a few angry teachers with stink attitudes. I dont have a problem with my daughter’s present teacher disciplining her her but if she was in one of those angry teachers’ class, hell no. You aint about to come take out your man stress/life stress on my child. Her father and I are in the school multiple times per day plus one call and we will be there in 4 mins; we both work next to the school. It takes a village to raise a child yes, so i dont mind the school disciplining her but it depends on who. Some of these teachers/prinicpals want to hog up ur child but their children are the most rotten
USA have MAGA
BVI have Maggots
Home made!
Introduce a Behaviour credit term, when your children missed behave for three consecutive time in a month, the credit is discontinue and the parents pay. If it is only for one time, the parents pay.
I believe their parents were broken people and should have never given that opportunity to have children until their were qualify to do so.
There should also start issuing Parental Certificate in family planning.so you known them qualify. Because all those stress decrease the teacher life span, most of them wont live to see 80.
The question is why are you paying for knowledge? Why is the tax payers money paying for big government functions and the school bathroom are in a mess,no toilet paper,paper towels etc? Tax money is supposed to fund books every year…get paper and copy the homework.. instead parents have to triple pay because they don’t think. Everyone in government should be fired no one does their jobs