THE administrators of Jamaica College (JC) have announced that all students captured in a viral video where boys in uniform were seen violently assaulting a peer, are to appear before its disciplinary committee for appropriate action in accordance with the school’s established procedures.

In a late Monday afternoon release, over the signature of its board Chairman Lance Hylton, JC said on Saturday, April 18, at approximately 8:00 pm, “the school’s management became aware of a video depicting a deeply disturbing incident involving a number of our students. The school regards the behaviour depicted as reprehensible and unacceptable and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms”.

According to Hylton, investigations began immediately in line with the established protocols, and by midday Sunday, April 19, the school’s management had identified the boys pictured and secured an initial, though unverified, impression of what had transpired.

The JC board chairman said the primary parties involved were interviewed on Monday, in the presence of their parents, and signed statements secured.

“Based on these interviews and signed statements, the facts as currently understood by us are as follows:

“The student seen in the video being physically assaulted admitted in writing that about two weeks ago, he ‘took’ certain items that did not belong to him, from a group of boys with whom he was socialising. These included a jacket, a pair of glasses, and a sum of money.

“When initially questioned about the missing items, he denied any involvement, before later acknowledging his actions and committing to returning the items in question.

“In the days that followed, he returned a portion of the money and some of the items but failed to make full restitution and missed several agreed deadlines to do so.

“The aggrieved students subsequently confronted him on school grounds and demanded the outstanding balance. The physical altercation captured in the video occurred at that point.”

According to Hylton, “Jamaica College remains fully and unequivocally committed to the safety and well-being of every student in our care, to fair and thorough investigation of all incidents, and to the upholding of due process, accountability, and justice.”

The viral video shows a student forcefully gripping his peer by the shirt, delivering multiple open-palmed blows to the face and one to his chest, as another member of the group struck him with a belt.

Initial reports to the Jamaica Observer were that one of the students seen in the video violently hitting his classmate had been taken into custody by members of a police team seen on the compound Monday morning.

But the police later indicated that up to press time Monday evening none of the boys had been arrested.

JC has been under the spotlight in recent weeks for good and bad reasons.

The school captured the Mortimer Geddes Trophy as the boys’ champion at the 2026 ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships and days later broke a 39-year drought by capturing the 2026
TVJ Schools’ Challenge Quiz championship title.

But, amidst the celebrations, the school was under scrutiny as news broke about a March 24 incident in which one student was left nursing injuries and another arrested on assault charges.

The mother of the injured student took to social media sharing her disgruntlement and noting that her child’s injuries racked up a quarter million dollars in medical fees, with costs for treatment still climbing.

In its response to that incident the school rejected reports that the injured student had been attacked by a gang and claimed that the incident stemmed from a dispute over a $2,000 note which both boys believed to be theirs.

The school’s parent-teacher association (PTA) also baulked at claims that a culture of gang violence or bullying existed at the institution, and emphasised that such claims or speculations were fallacious.

“The PTA takes its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of its children very seriously and would be among the first to raise concern and demand accountability if such conditions existed.

“Where isolated incidents may arise, as they can in any school environment, the PTA is satisfied that the institution has in place a structured, responsive, and effective system in place to address them,” said the statement.

On Monday, the Ministry of Education and Youth announced that it launched an investigation into the latest matter, describing the footage as “disturbing” and strongly condemning the actions depicted, reiterating its zero-tolerance policy towards bullying and violence in schools.

The ministry said it would be deploying specialised teams to the school to meet with administration and students as part of the ongoing investigation.

It said it is also working diligently with the leadership of the school to identify all parties involved to ensure appropriate disciplinary and corrective measures are implemented.