News & Current Affairs - Saturday, December 26, 2009 11:56

Barbados school boys allegedly beaten by teacher, caught on tape

By Kathy Lehay, Staff writer

Tags: Barbados, Child abuse, Social activism, Youth issues

Editor’s note: The teacher shown in this video has described it as a prank, according to a report in the Daily Nation. While it does indeed show him and students of St. Leonard’s Secondary, the teacher claims it was only a dramatisation. Please see full details here ■

St. Leonard's children flogged As debate continues in Barbados on whether corporal punishment should be retained in schools, a shocking video has been leaked on the internet showing a staff member of St. Leonard’s Secondary School apparently whipping students while in Guyana on a cricket tournament this month.

It is alleged by students that the teacher, a physical education coach, became infuriated when two team members went to a club and returned to their guest house late.

The video was recorded by students and originally leaked via the social networking site Facebook, along with the aforementioned allegations. The video has since gone viral.

St. Leonard’s Secondary, an all-male government owned school, was at the centre of a similar controversy in October of this year, when a reporter photographed a senior teacher caning students for arriving to school late. Most primary and secondary schools in Barbados enforce corporal punishment, without any stipulation against excessive force.

Related articles:

Barbados: School teacher shown in shocking video says it was only a prank

Kathy Lehay · Montego Bay, Jamaica

A Barbados-born, Jamaica-resident social worker and feminist, Kathy Lehay is an independent care worker and gender specialist who provides one-on-one skills training and social support for disadvantaged women and families in Jamaica. She holds an MA Gender Studies and BA Social Work.

kathy@antillean.org

12 Comments

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SanMan_ish from Saint George, Trinidad and Tobago
Dec 26, 2009 13:03

i believe in corporal punishment but that in the video isnt… that is assault…

why wait until they reach in prison to give them strokes…

this vid also highlights the reaction of the others present in the room… there is laughter and the boys being assaulted stand firm…

as usual more questions than answers…

Ian Bourne from Saint Michael, Barbados
Dec 26, 2009 23:59

For more details, please go here – http://bajanreporter.com/?p=6940

Will from Saint Michael, Barbados
Dec 27, 2009 0:13

jesus…

this is disturbing on so many levels…

lol @ ian using this site to advertise his own…

Norway John from Oslo, Norway
Dec 27, 2009 0:13

If the video was first released on FB why does bajanreporter have its name stamped on the video?

Cherise Noel from Illinois, United States
Dec 27, 2009 0:28

This is assault. Plain and simple. That seriously shocked me and I can’t believe they’re in the background laughing like it’s normal. As SanMan said, this isn’t corporal punishment.

BTW: Interesting question John, my Bajan friends showed me the video on Facebook first – I guess bajanreporter wanted to seem, ‘exclusive’? And what was with the personal reflection Ian – are those, ‘details’?

Ian Bourne from Saint Michael, Barbados
Dec 27, 2009 6:53

Cherise, please take time to examine my site… I do not present News in an average manner. Yes, I had it first a full 2 days before The Antillean and I added my personal experiences with Corporal Punishment to make it clear why I am against such barbarism…

EC Editor from Saint Michael, Barbados
Dec 27, 2009 11:11

Hi Ian – it’s not a competition, is it? If it was, your comment would have been deleted.

While we don’t put personal opinions and reflections in articles tagged as ‘news’ here, we appreciate that Bajan Reporter has its audience and a very different slant.

WRT to having the story before us, while it is true that you posted the story two days before the Antillean, you would notice that we both put the video on our Youtube accounts on December 23, i.e. a day after the student posted it on his Facebook page. We just took a decision not to post this story on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day, given the nature of the video.

Andre from Saint Michael, Barbados
Dec 27, 2009 11:58

Are you people really replying to Ian Bourne?!!! I saw his Youtube video and he had the audacity to say that the Saturday Sun newspaper did’t even credit HIM for the news story. WTF? Everybody with a Facebook account saw this video on a teenage student’s page first!! The only difference is that other people would not be so pretentious and fraudulent as to make it seem like this was an exclusive scoop for their blog! Even the backstory was easy to glean from the students’ comments on the video. This was not ‘exclusive’ or ‘breaking news’ and certainly not limited to Bajan Reporter in any way. For Ian Bourne to make it seem so is ridiculous.

To comment on the video: This teacher is known for that but he also knows who he can do it to. Kudos to those boys for standing there and taking those lashes so subserviently and not pummeling the shit out of him. At the same time, it is sad that they believe he has the right to hit them like that, no matter what they did. If that was me, it would not have ended without a fight.

Ian Bourne from Saint Michael, Barbados
Dec 27, 2009 12:53

@ Andre – wow your nerves in a jangle? Try some Panadol or Excedrin, I hear Whizz works wonders too! Nothing wrong for promoting my work, but thanks for visiting my youtube channel as well, see you again soon?

Ian Bourne from Saint Michael, Barbados
Dec 28, 2009 6:33

The Online Nation claims this is a hoax and adults were present – where are they?

Cherise Noel from Illinois, United States
Dec 28, 2009 12:48

Someone is insulting my intelligence if this is a hoax. From what I can see, they were still hit, no?

jakcy&jacky from Georgia, United States
Apr 28, 2010 15:41

umm………..im just like wtf!! :~P really teachers have no right to use corporal punishment on students.they are not the parent or guardian of that child sooo f*** them teachers!