Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 11/Sep 07:00

A case for cops in schools

THE EDITOR: The fear of consequence is fundamental to human development. Without it there can only be chaos. This tenet is especially apt with young and impressionable minds, for example, the child who won't risk losing his pocket money by not doing his chores. Or, facing his parents' displeasure by keeping the wrong company. Which is why the presence of police officers in schools is an excellent move for it provides a visual, physical deterrence to any student bent on creating disorder or perpetuating violence, which was running rampant in some of the nation’s schools. Armchair psychologists would, of course, react with horror to the sight of the police in schools, because they are steeped in the non-contextual theory of the young impressionable mind needing positive vibrations and images to grow and develop – of which a police presence is the stark antithesis. Valid as this view may be in theory, such is a mere bookish, academic approach that does not take into account the practical reality that in some schools, there is violence and mischief afoot. Take the school in Couva for example, where a female student was set upon by a group of young girls and was beaten mercilessly. Or the incident in a school in Moruga where a teacher was almost fully subdued by a violent student. As it is with the national crime situation, which we all now requires a strong arm of deterrence through the law, the students in our schools need to have a clear sense of the consequences of indulging in unacceptable behaviour. A police presence provides such a deterrent. All bookish notions of young minds being negatively affected by a continuing police presence are sadly misplaced. It would be noteworthy for such dissenting academics to consider that “firmness” is love. For to be dissuaded from a pattern of unacceptable behaviour, through a police presence, would turn out to be a worthy sacrifice in the long run. Needless to say, the police must avoid foisting themselves on the school population or flexing its muscles, But we trust the training these offices have undergone and all credit to the state for taking such a bold initiative to tackle a growing problem. The need for such action becomes clearer when the fruits of complacency in dealing with crime at the national level are clear for all to see. DR ERROL BENJAMIN Port of Spain The post A case for cops in schools appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.