WESTMORELAND, Jamaica – President of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association, Leighton Johnson, has urged teachers to exercise restraint and avoid engaging in confrontations with students.

His remarks come in response to a widely circulated video on social media depicting a physical altercation between a teacher and a student at Belmont Academy in Westmoreland.

The footage captured an educator, said to be a Physical Education teacher, grappling with a male student, resulting in a scuffle that brought both individuals to the ground.

READ: Teacher and student fight at Belmont Academy in Westmoreland

“They [Teachers] are not to get physical with the students,” Johnson advised, even as he admitted that sometimes the students’ ill behaviour can cause anxiety on the part of the teachers. He emphasised that educators must refrain from being confrontational.

“As best as possible, be non-confrontational with the students,” he charged.

He instead encouraged educators to utilise other ways of diffusing tensions as they arise, adding that teachers should endeavour to remain professional in all circumstances.

“Our members are going to be the ones who are exposed to these kinds of behaviour. So, we want them to be prepared as best as possible to [equip] themselves with additional ways to assist students in utilising the conflict resolution strategies,” he said.

While not disputing that disagreements will happen, Johnson urged students to deal with their conflicts in a kind manner.

“As a society and as an association, we always and will continue to encourage our students to deal with and treat their differences amicably. Of course, disagreements will come but we are encouraging all to utilise the necessary and relevant conflict resolution techniques that are being used in schools,” he stressed while noting confidently that schools have been promoting conflict resolution.

Meanwhile, he renewed his appeal to the Ministry of Education and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to intervene and assign resource officers to schools that have a higher propensity to violence.

He also called for additional social intervention programmes to help alleviate the burden on guidance counsellors.

“We need additional guidance counsellors; we need additional social workers to be deployed so that there is an additional avenue of support for guidance counsellors,” he charged.

He further proposed that the student-to-guidance counsellor ratio be lowered to 300:1 from 500:1 so counsellors can provide proper conflict resolution strategies.

Kimberley Peddie