Bureaucracy and victim-blaming

THE Ministry of Education has completed their investigation into Coen Jackson and has handed the case over to the police. They have found the headmistress of Bishops’ High School guilty of breaching the regulations under the Education Act 39:01 section 35 “Inappropriate behaviour by teachers in school” which is liable to a first warning. They made recommendations of an apology, Ministry provided counselling support and the Ministry provided training and support to teachers on how to deal with children on sexual issues.

I strongly believe that the head teacher should have been fired. That level of ignorance, anger and disbelief in matters of sexual allegations should never be a first response. Any person who tells a group of adolescent girls that they should have gone to the defence of a sexual predator and called them “slack,” and “very loose” with themselves, does not deserve to be protected by bureaucracy and I am glad to see BHS Alumni making calls for her to be placed on leave to facilitate investigations. At least now, Ellis and all the other teachers and head teachers like her, know that they cannot operate without being held accountable. They know now that they cannot slut shame and victim blame children into silence.

What I found lacking in the ministry’s response however, is the lack of institutional recommendations. The Bishops’ case is a microcosm of the realities of many other schools in which students are preyed upon. The MOE needs to address and fix the systemic failures in their current framework and, ensure that appropriate systems are in place the next time something like this happens. Let’s not fool ourselves, it will happen again.

This case has been particularly disturbing for me because of how widespread I know the problem to be. During my high school years, I had passed through five high schools due to frequent moving. In three of these high schools, it was common knowledge that teachers would sexually prey on their students. Back then, we did not have such fancy concepts as sexual predation though, we used to see it as a relationship. A relationship we were sure made us uncomfortable but which we still accepted as normal. How couldn’t we? The adults around us were aware of our friends who were involved sexually with their workmates and they said nothing.

So, our questions should not be why the victims or knowledgeable students did not come forward sooner (Even though in several instances they did seek justice.) Our question should be why the adults who were aware of what was occurring, allowed it to happen. Accounts from those knowledgeable of Jackson’s predatory behaviour, stated that students were warned upon entrance into the school, to stay away from him.

Yet, they would have us believe that not one adult knew of Jackson’s preferences for grooming and abusing his position of trust, by targeting them before their 16th birthday and engaging in sexual relationships with them once they reached the age of consent. If no one gathers how slimy and manipulative this behaviour is, just know that before the age of consent was changed from 13 to 16, Jackson would begin his grooming of students at 12 years old. I’ve heard murmurings that there are four more predatory teachers like Jackson in Bishops, I hope they know that they cannot continue for long.

In a letter to Stabroek News, 23/11/2017 edition, two of the seven founders of Red Thread and Help & Shelter, Karen de Souza and Andaiye spoke to Jackson’s case. In it, they advised adults on their “duty to listen to children who complain of sexual abuse.” They further went on to note that a report was made to them “some months ago of a then unnamed teacher at Bishops,” of similar behaviour. It was only after the photograph of Jackson was published did they realise that Jackson was the same teacher whom the report to them had been made against.

An anonymous victim, recounting her experience with Jackson in NewsRoom, had said that he had allegedly groped her when she had gone to inquire about a School Based Assessment. “I wanted to go home, I wanted to shower. I still felt his hands on me. It’s not easy,” said the student.

I don’t feel the need to address Jackson’s press conference in depth. That conference was a disaster for him and I am almost thankful to his lawyers for allowing him to speak. His bumbling monologue further implicated himself and for that, I am thankful. Since Jackson’s conference however, one of his victims broke her silence publicly and stated that while she had never considered herself a victim of anyone before, she has come to recognised Jackson as an alleged “sexual predator.”

She admitted to suffering from depression as a teenager and as such, she was “an easy target.” She also rubbished Jackson’s claim that their relationship had only started after she was out of school. She said it began while she was still in school. The young woman’s account was heartbreaking. What was even more heartbreaking was the fact that she felt the need to share parts of her story with the public that she did not seem quite ready to share. It is awful that we as a people feel entitled to the stories of victims. Even in the act of baring her soul, she was still subject to comments that continued to trivialise both her experiences and the countless victims of Jackson.

For the victims and all the attempted victims of Coen Jackson and others like him, please know that there is a whole community out there that supports you. If you need counselling or other forms of help, there are several places where you can seek counselling support. I’ve compiled a small list of places that I’m aware of. You can call any one of these numbers and get the help you need. GRPA- 225-0739

GuyBow- 227-7830/ 6723483/ 6722536
ChildLink- 2317174/ 227 2023
Red Thread- 227-7010/ 223-6254
Help & Shelter- 225-4731/ 227-8353
Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination- 225-7283/ 6235155

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