Students Encouraged to Report Cases of Bullying

National Safe Schools Coordinator, Sergeant Andrew Williams, is encouraging students who are being bullied at school to report the issue to a responsible adult.

“I’m a product of the safe school programme. What we were taught then and I’m teaching now is to speak to a responsible adult. You find a teacher, a trusted teacher. There’s always someone that you can trust,” Sergeant Williams said.

“Your School Resource Officers (SROs) are so trained, that we believe that you are ours. Your best interest is what we have at heart. Find your school resource officer and say, ‘this is what I am facing’ and I guarantee you that we will guide you along a path of recovery,” he added.

Sergeant Williams was speaking on the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JDF) ‘Force for Good’ Podcast on August 30.

He further noted that there are instances where an SRO is able to speak with the offending student [the bully] and “we are able to pull out why this child is acting a particular way”.

“I am saying this to say your school resource officer is there for you. Whatever it is that you want to achieve, speak to us and I guarantee we’ll get you there. For the parent, we have been there as well. We understand what happens within the schools; we see it on a daily basis,” he said.

“Sometimes, we fear for your child as well, and that’s why we are highly trained and we are motivated to push them along the right path. If they have reported this to you, get in contact with your school resource officer as well. We will work with them. There are mentorship programmes, there are police youth clubs, there are several programmes that they can be a part of, but your child will be safe because your school resource officers will be there for you,” Sergeant Williams added.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Williams stressed the importance of parents knowing who the SROs are at the children’s schools.

“That’s your first point of contact when your child is being threatened. Speak to your school resource officer. There is this thing where school resource officers are there, and again, the parents don’t know. You have a right to ask who the school resource officer is that is assigned to my institution. You will often find that I will give my number out to anybody, because it’s a service that we offer,” he stated.

“You will find, too, that that the school resource officer will say, ‘contact me and let us have a conversation’, And then because it is a partnership, we will also meet with the Dean of Discipline and the guidance counsellor to see the best way to approach the situation,” he added.