The incident at Tranquillity Government Secondary School involving the alleged assault on the Deputy Mayor of Port of Spain should not be dismissed as “children behaving badly.”
It is a warning sign of deeper social breakdown, loss of discipline, glorification of violence online, gang culture filtering into schools, weak parental supervision in some cases, and a growing disrespect for authority.
Trinidad & Tobago cannot wait until a student brings a firearm to school and innocent children or teachers lose their lives before acting.
What happened repeatedly in parts of the United States started with smaller acts of aggression, bullying, threats, social media violence, and the normalization of chaos.
Prevention now is cheaper and safer than reacting later.
Gordon Laughlin,
Westmoorings
