An attack at a school on Wednesday evening has left a 14-year-old schoolboy with a fractured skull and wounds to his face. Keyshawn Pierre, a Form One student of Pleasantville Secondary School, remained warded yesterday in a stable condition at the San Fernando General Hospital. Pierre said while they were beating him some Form Three students tried to steal money from his pocket. He was rescued by a teacher and taken to hospital. Two male students have been detained by police for questioning. The police said they were waiting for a medical report before proceeding with charges. The school's principal, Phillip Allard, said he was not aware of the incident.
However, the child's mother, Errolyn Pierre, said the principal had spoken with her and advised her on a course of action. The younger Pierre, who spoke in an interview yesterday at the hospital, said if the teacher had not rescued him he could have died because one of his attackers, a martial arts student, kept pounding at his face and head. He said gangs in the school were bullying and "taxing" younger and more vulnerable students and it was an everyday occurrence. Pierre said he had been approached by gang members to join them and because he refused to do so he had become a victim of the bullies who, he said, "shake us down, emptying our pockets and searching our bags to steal our money." He said he often had to hide his money in his shoe. Recalling the incident, Pierre said it started during the morning recess when he went into a class to meet one of his friends. "I went to meet one of my friends in Form One and two guys, also from that class, pushed me. I asked them 'what you push me for?' and pushed back.
"They wanted to fight me in the class but some other guys intervened and stopped them," he said. Pierre said during the lunch hour, the two aggressors followed him around the school. After school, Pierre said, he and his friend were walking down the hill when he noticed the two boys following. He said: "I told my friend 'let us go, quick, quick' but he did not hear me, I started to walk fast and the fella follow me. "He hold me and start to cuff me up in the face and head and nose. At the same time they were beating me." He said luckily for him, a teacher was heading towards the school gates and saw the commotion. The teacher came to his rescue and the two assailants fled the scene. His mother has called for an end to school violence and bullying. She said her son had been asking her to get him transferred from that school for a long time because of the violence. She said she would seek a transfer.
She added: "I have been told by the dean of discipline my child is a well-behaved student. I teach my children to walk away from trouble and avoid bullies. "I tell them I am ashamed to go to the police station so if they get involved in any fracas they staying locked up. I not coming. "Now look what happen. Instead of my child being in school he is in a hospital with a fractured skull." She said parents needed to take control of their out-of-control children. She said the martial arts student who attacked her son apologised to her at the Mon Repos Police Station yesterday afternoon. The boy's parents, who accompanied him to the police station, pleaded for leniency because they did not want their son to be locked up. "I accepted the apology and told his parents, who appeared to be real respectable, I did not want to punish him but he needs to do the right thing. I told them while he may get away with me he may not get away with somebody else if he continues to behave this way." She said she was waiting for the results of the medical report on her son before deciding what to do.
