THE MATTER OF the safety of students was again on the front burner yesterday, as THE STAR reported the case of a 19-year-old who was remanded in custody after being accused of robbing a high school student.
The robbery took place in St. James, at the Maldon High School, when $200 was taken at knifepoint.
This is one incident which has made it into the courts and, from there, to the newspapers and national attention. Who knows how many other cases of robbery of students there have been, involving more serious weapons than a knife?
It is not a secret that students at many schools are targeted by petty thieves. And they do make easy targets, as they have to travel set routes at certain times and tend to have a little bit of money on them, what with lunch, books and other school related expenses.
It does not help when they also have cellular phones and we must note that preventing students from carrying the flipping items around makes them lesser targets.
While incidents of students being unable to go to school because of gang conflicts in various areas is always striking and given priority treatment and attention, the matter of daily robberies is no petty matter. We do not think that it is too much to ask the police to patrol and respond to continuous har-assment of certain students in particular areas. Of course, they cannot act without a report and we encourage the affected students to bring such harassment to the attention of their teachers, who will pass on the information.
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