FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Muschett High School is implementing additional programmes in a bid promote unity and proper conflict resolution skills among its students, Principal Leighton Johnson told the Jamaica Observer on Thursday.

The move, he said, was in response to a bloody brawl involving two of the school’s female students on Monday this week which was shared on social media.

“We are revamping our parent chaperone programme, so there is a plan to have additional fathers come in to maintain that visible presence in the Wakefield square and other town areas, just to prevent the students from congregating in those places,” the principal said.

Johnson noted that this parent chaperone programme has greatly benefited the high school in the past, as, with the assistance of residents, administrators were better able to handle whatever physical altercations arose between students.

“In the past we had this partnership with the residents of the Wakefield community. They ensured that the students got on the public passenger vehicles as quickly as possible after school and they would maintain a presence there. So, in the event of a flare-up, members of the school would be called and we would go there as quickly as possible to quell whatever is going on,” Johnson told the Observer.

In addition to that programme, the principal called for the support of Montego Bay Metro Limited.

“We are appealing to the Montego Bay Metro; that company had buses running the Wakefield to Falmouth and Montego Bay routes. We [want] to get that company back on track to assist us in moving the students as quickly as possible,” he said.

Amateur videos of the bloody fight between the two girls have been heavily circulated. One of the girls was stabbed in the face and arm during the fight. The other girl was taken into police custody and later released to her parents.

It is not known what caused the fight, but one video footage shows the two girls throwing punches and kicks. Some students looked on, shouting expletives and cheering, while others tried to part the fight.

The principal countered claims that the fight happened at the school.

“It must be stated clearly that this incident, though unfortunate and something that we wish did not happen, did not take place on our school compound, as is being circulated in the media,” said Johnson.

“It is also necessary for me to indicate to the public that the school has, and continues to engage in several psychosocial sessions. We had a very robust reorientation and reintegration programme for our students. What you saw is just a reflection of the aggression within our society,” the principal added.

“The action that we saw in that video as that young lady inflicted wounds to the other speaks to the moral decay within our country. They do not reflect the current realities of Muschett High School. Our students are cultured, they carry themselves with decorum and they are responding positively to the instructions that are given to them,” Johnson added.

He told the Observer that while the school continues to ramp up its social resources to properly manage the behaviour of each student, their home life also plays a huge role in the “battle” they now face.

“When the students are here on the compound, this kind of aggressive behaviour is not necessarily displayed, on the basis that our students are constantly supervised. But, when they are going home we do not have that supervision and that is where the challenge is,” the principal said.

“Though as a school we have taken the proactive approach to introduce them to various conflict-resolution skills, as soon as they go back on the roads they are experiencing another life,” he added.

“So the battle that the school has to transform the students to become socially acceptable individuals is a real challenge, on the basis that the areas that they live in, in many instances, don’t provide the necessary support to the school in this regard,” Johnson told the Observer.