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The Tribune, Nassau, 29 March 2019
Out Of Order: Ministry Probes Teacher Filmed Beating Students
By Ricardo Wells
Tribune Staff ReporterTHE Ministry of Education is investigating the circumstances surrounding a video in which a teacher is seen repeatedly striking a group of students with a leather belt.
The nearly three-minute video, which has spread across various social media platforms, reportedly involves an Abaco-based physical education teacher who is seen lashing students one-by-one with the belt.
It is not clear when the video was shot.
Director of Education Marcellus Taylor, when contacted yesterday, said the ministry was aware of the video and confirmed that an investigation was underway to determine what prompted the ordeal.
"We've seen it," he told The Tribune. "It involved a teacher from Patrick J Bethel School and the district there is reviewing that matter. We expect a report to be submitted, and once that is done, we will determine what course of action we need to take."
The graphic video opened with the teacher in question handing over the phone used to record the ordeal of the unidentified students.
After she ensured the device was on and recording, the teacher called over the first student.
As the first student walked into frame, he is heard telling the PE teacher that he was not involved in an incident that had transpired earlier. However, despite his pleas, Ms Brown directed him to walk over to a nearby wall and place his hands on it.
"You were in the room, right?" she told the young man. "Hands on the wall."
Following a short discussion with several other students out of view of the camera, the teacher told the entire group: "So let me show y'all."
She then widened her stance, and took her first swing. As she did, she was heard telling the student, "listen to me" as her belt made contact with his back.
The student, appearing to be in pain, held his back and stomach as he attempted to move away from the wall.
However the teacher shouted: "That's one. Stand up."
She directed him back to the wall and said: "Hands on the wall."
As the young man exhaled in pain, he was hit across the back a second time and began to hop in place from the pain.
Ms Brown was heard saying: "I ain' got time for that --you are a part of it too because you allowed it."
At this point, several persons off-camera could be heard saying he was sleeping, referring to the young boy being hit.
One voice added: "He's the quiet one."
The student was struck once more before the teacher moves onto a second student.
In total six students -- all boys -- were beaten over the course of the video.
Corporal punishment has long been a point of contention in the country with fierce proponents on both sides.
At the time, Mr Lloyd said education officials may revise school policies on corporal punishment, insisting modern research shows it to be an ineffective way of disciplining children.
However later that year, in September 2018 police and the Ministry of Education were said to be investigating an incident at a public school where a boy was allegedly beaten by an administrator.
The announcement of the investigation came after advocacy group Rights Bahamas called on the Minnis administration and the Ministry of Education to address an incident of corporal punishment at C H Reeves Junior High School as a violation of both human rights and child laws.
© Copyright 2019 Ellington. All rights reserved.
RELATED VIDEO CLIP
We have not been able to find the full clip, said in the above Tribune article to be 3 minutes long. All we have at the moment is the following highly abbreviated (40 seconds) version consisting of discontinuous snippets. The identities of the boys have been crudely blanked out. Also, the soundtrack has been effaced, so please note that this is a SILENT FILM. The article above does reproduce some of the alleged dialogue.
HERE IS THE CLIP:
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