School Sex Videos for Cabinet Today

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Wednesday, 30 January 2013 02:30

By caribarena news

Antigua St. John's - The government cannot legislate morality, and the responsibility of making the nation’s youth aware of sex is one that rests both in the hands of parents and the very children who find themselves in the hot seat of puberty.

That was according to Youth Minister Senator Winston Williams as he announced on Tuesday that the anticipated report from a November 2012 probe into a spate of sex videos coming out of certain public secondary schools will be tabled in Cabinet Wednesday.

Williams told Caribarena on Tuesday afternoon that the report will be laid before the attorney general.

He said, in response to questions about the content of the report, that aside from the chilling findings overall, recommendations have been made to initiate legal action against those found culpable.

The minister declined to give details, out of a desire not to be prejudicial to the young people involved and the findings in general.

“I have read horrible things in my time,” he said on Observer AM on Tuesday. “But this one takes me to the core. There are serious challenges with parents and our young people. … And there will always be the challenge of those who seek to prey on the innocent.”

The senator noted that after the report has been tabled before the Cabinet, the onus would then be on Attorney General Justin Simon to chart the legal way forward, as far as possible legal action and who gets to see the contents.

In October 2012, Caribarena revealed in a series of news reports the alarming number of sex videos being made in public and private schools, involving students.

The reports led to an investigation being initiated by Education and Youth Minister Dr Jacqui Quinn-Leandro, who described the matter as one of “grave concern” to the education system.

Director of Education Jacinta Pringle headed the investigative team of three that was mandated to ascertain students involved in the videos, the schools involved, the ages of students, and their partners.

Other members of the investigative team included Senior Education Officer Secondary Schools Clare Browne, and Education Officer Health and Family Life Education Andrea Airall.

The group was also tasked with examining the existing cell phone policy as it relates to students in schools; and to collaborate with police, school counselors, and the Ministry of Social Transformation throughout the process.

Senator Williams said in the Observer broadcast, “…I can almost understand the sheer weight of embarrassment in some cases and naturally the whole question of safety of these young girls and their parents. Government cannot legislate morality. They can try, but it will always come back to the foundation.

There has to be a relationship with parents and their children. No amount of rules of regulation is going to stop students of individuals from participating in sexual (activities). I want a greater responsibility coming from parents and our young people.”

He added it was the responsibility of the children to properly manage their hormonal changes. And these management techniques can be achieved through proper and constant conversations between parents and their children.



“We want to set rules and regulations, but I want to have a greater national conversation on the matter,” Williams said.

President of the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Alister Thomas said the association is concerned about the revelations of late last year and was eagerly awaiting a copy of the report so it could incorporate some of the recommendations into a plan of action it is working on independently.

“We are working to devise a strategy to help with these things… in terms of knowing the almost unlimited impact of the social media and the networks that make these things so accessible to young people, with almost instantaneous information sharing as far as the modern phones are concerned,” he said. “I can assure you that we are concerned about this. These are still children and the impact can be so devastating that they themselves might not have grasped it as yet.”

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