No Tolerance for Bullying in Belize

This past Saturday, a family in Belize took to social media to shine a light on the troubling issue of bullying among our youth. They shared a heartbreaking story about a Saint John’s College student who suffered a broken hip in an incident where he was allegedly bullied. This comes on the heels of another disturbing case from mid-June, where a fourteen-year-old boy was followed home and assaulted by his peers.  We decided to dig deeper into the pervasive problem of bullying and its profound impact on the young people of Belize. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the full story.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

A bully is someone who repeatedly causes pain to others, whether through physical harm, hurtful words, or mean behavior. According to a recent report by UNESCO, over thirty percent of students worldwide have experienced bullying. This troubling trend has devastating effects on a young person’s academic performance, physical well-being, and mental health. Mental Health Counselor Aimee Jex explains how these impacts can follow victims into adulthood.

 

Aimee Jex, Mental Health Councilor

“This is a trauma that you can develop, anything that happens throughout your life can impact you. So let’s say you are someone who around ten, eleven, twelve, your peers started teasing you, bullying you, excluding you, you start feeling maybe less than enough, maybe you don’t, Realize your own worth. Maybe your self-esteem gets hampered, so as you grow up into adulthood, you’re you don’t see your full potential. You might not be confident in the things you want to achieve, and so you don’t get to be the person that you could be because you have these limitations that you carry on throughout your life.”

 

Many bullying victims come from marginalized or vulnerable communities, making them easy targets for verbal or physical attacks. Back in mid-June, a video surfaced on social media showing a fourteen-year-old high school student in Santa Cruz Village being followed home and harassed by several peers. This alarming incident prompted police intervention, leading to the aggressors being taken into custody. Thankfully, the victim and his family managed to move past the ordeal in a peaceful manner.

 

Paul Lopez
What do you say to bullies?”

 

Jose Amador, Bullying Victim (File: June16th, 2024)
“I will take the apology they have given, because everybody makes mistakes. So I will take their apology.”

 

Paul Lopez
“And what do you say to individuals that have been bullied before. What do you say to them to deal with it?”

 

Jose Amador

“Please don’t be afraid to tell your family members, your parents, talk to your family members, the teachers, but talk about it.”

 

In 1989, world leaders created the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which seeks to ensure the special protection of children under the age of eighteen years. In 1990, Belize became the fifth country in the world to ratify the CRC, pledging to protect the survival and developmental rights of children.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education (File: June 20th, 2024)

“Of course the ministry’s position is that we have zero tolerance for bullying. We are working with the management, the principals, the teachers, to address this matter. We do not want the students in any of our educational institutions to experience any form of bullying. Schools must just be a safe space for students. So, we are absolutely looking at that issue very closely.”

 

On Saturday, the family of Dominick Alvarado, a student at Saint John’s College, took to social media to highlight the serious issue of bullying in Belize. They shared that Dominick had suffered a broken hip in an alleged bullying incident, leaving him bedridden. We reached out to the President of Saint John’s College, Mirtha Peralta, to understand how the school is handling the situation. While she confirmed that an internal investigation is underway, the specifics of any disciplinary action against the accused remain unclear. ACP Hilberto Romero details how the police respond to instances of bullying.

 

ACP Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division

“If Injuries were inflicted on him, then an investigation will be carried out and those responsible will be charged.  And the bullying part, then that will also be investigated.”

 

Paul Lopez

“So it could be tantamount to a criminal act?”

 

Hilberto Romero

“Yes, once this person received injuries. Yes.”

 

To get a broader perspective on how schools typically handle bullying, we spoke with Kadijah Marin, the Vice Principal of Academic Affairs at Edward P. York High School.

 

Kadijah Marin, Vice Principal of Academic Affairs, Edward P. York

“So if a student comes in and makes a report, we have them record an incident report. about whatever happened. Thereafter, we launched an investigation to find out what the details of the case are and who the culprits may be. And then from there, according to our student handbook, we have consequences based on the severity of the case. So it could range from something as simple as name calling, to hazing, or to internet interactions, or cyber bullying. We take all of those cases seriously and they’re outlined in our 100th Federal Clearing.”

 

Marin explained that the punishment vary depending on the severity of the case. Students may receive demerits, detentions, suspensions and in some instances, outright expulsion. Jex explains that there are several reasons that someone may exhibit bullying behaviors, ranging from stressful living situations, a lack of correction, or an inability to regulate emotions.

 

Aimee Jex

“You also have those people in the middle who might just be bullies because  that’s how they see it as a solution. You did something bad to me and now in response, I will do something worse to you and other people will notice and you will feel ashamed. So that a shame I felt, I will make you feel it ten times or one hundred times and it’s a solution that they have because you know as people we have emotions And maybe we may not know how to regulate those emotions. We don’t know how to deal with our anger We don’t know how to deal with our sadness. We don’t know how to deal with our grief and in that we end up hurting other people.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.