MOST parents go above and beyond to ensure that their children have an opportunity to live a life that is better than theirs. Whether it’s providing material things, a good education or instilling good morals and attitudes, they all try their best.

In this regard, many parents often allow their emotions to get the better of them; they act before assessing situations, and these irresponsible actions often put them and their children in embarrassing situations.

A parent is a child’s first teacher, and they are expected to begin laying the foundation for a bright future. Sometimes parents struggle to raise that child the way they ought to, or the way they desire to; they stumble and make mistakes but all is not lost. Their child eventually goes to school; a place that many call their second home. There, trained teachers play their part in molding that child for the future.

As humans, there will always be disagreements regarding how things should be done, and the molding of children is no different. However, we can all agree that parents and teachers have the important role of instilling discipline, while ensuring that children are properly nurtured and educated, so that they can become productive citizens of Guyana, and contribute meaningfully to their communities. In this regard, they must work together to achieve the desired results.

That being said, one cannot turn a blind eye on two troubling incidents that have occurred in our schools in as many days. In both instances, enraged parents walked into separate primary schools and inflicted brutal beatings on defenseless teachers.

The first incident occurred at Graham’s Hall Secondary School on the East Coast of Demerara. The full facts surrounding this incident is unavailable, but what is known is that a teacher of the school was physically assaulted by a parent. There is a photo of the injured teacher circulating on social media. Clearly, he was in a fight; his shirt was dirty and stained with blood. He looked traumatized, and in pain.

Hours later, news spread like wildfire that a similar incident was ongoing at the St. Angela’s Primary School on Thomas Street, Georgetown. Within minutes, there was a video of the assault circulating on Facebook, and as expected, it was shared thousands of times.

It looked like the raw footage of a scene shot for a movie. After all, no sane parent would barge into a school during instructional time, shabbily dressed and with no shoes to confront a teacher. But, this was what was in the video. The security guard and several adults who were most likely teachers, stood by helplessly as the enraged woman walked up a side step to the second floor corridor. She then unleashed her anger on a trainee teacher, who was dressed in her uniform. The teacher’s colleagues sprang into action, and were able to separate them.

That level of drama which unfolded before their eyes will most likely be in the minds of the school’s teachers and pupils for a very long time. In that moment, they were defenseless against the rage that walked into their school compound. What could they do? What could the female security guard who was unarmed do?

Again, all of the facts of this case are not in the public domain; it is unclear what the woman’s issue was.

Teachers being assaulted by parents have occurred sporadically over the years. Sadly, nothing much was done to address the issue.

There has been short-lived public condemnation, but no real action. No one dared to hold parents accountable and take the bull by the horn to protect both teachers and learners.

Shortly after the first incident, an official of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, a body that is responsible for protecting the rights of teachers, announced that the following day would be “Blackout Thursday”. The aim was to wear black clothing to show solidarity for the teachers at Graham’s Hall. Teachers were also told to take photos of themselves in their black attire, and upload them to Facebook, tagging the Ministry of Education.

Many teachers followed the union’s instructions. Shockingly, in some of the photos, the teachers were armed with implements, as if to suggest they were ready to go to war with parents. One had a hammer, another a cutlass and a spade, and several had the oversized rulers that are used to draw lines on blackboards. Clearly, the message being conveyed was not a responsible one; it spoke of using violence to handle violence. How can this be an amicable solution?

Parents and teachers are important stakeholders in the education process. Shouldn’t the union be advocating for a solution that would satisfy all stakeholders? Shouldn’t its first order of business be meeting with its members to hear their concerns and recommendations, and then relaying this information to the Ministry of Education?

Following the Graham’s Hall incident, Chief Education Officer Saddam Hussain, in a public statement, emphasised that the ministry will take all appropriate action in such cases, and these include the transferring of learners whose parents commit such violent acts.

In the circumstances, such a stance must be applauded. Such a measure might just help parents see that their actions have dire consequences, which can scar their child for life. Pouncing on a defenseless teacher at their place of work is wrong on all fronts. We must never use violence to settle grievances. When we do this in front of children, it conveys the wrong message to them, and increases the chances of them following suit when they have issues to settle.

The elephant in the room has to be addressed, and the Ministry of Education has signalled its intention to do so.