The family of a Girls’ High School (GHS) student has accused her principal of not showing empathy after the student said she was drowning in a hotel pool in Bequia during a school trip on April 11.
However, the principal, Latoya DeRoche John could not give iWitness News the school’s version of the incident, noting that the Education Act bars her from commenting.
“I cannot comment because of my position as the principal of the school,” DeRoche John told iWitness News.
“It goes against the Education Act,” she further said.
Additionally, a parent who was part of the committee that organised the event also declined to comment, even amidst some suggestions by other people who were present at the retreat that the situation was being made out to be more than it was.
On April 11, the school took the Form 5 students to a hotel in Bequia for a one-day retreat ahead of their school-leaving exams.
The student complained to her mother that she was struggling in the pool and felt as if she was drowning but none of the teachers or parents present went to assist her.
Her sister told iWitness News on Monday that the student was so traumatised after the event that she did not even want to bathe when she returned home and seemed disturbed by water.
However, on Saturday, the girl’s mother told iWitness News that she was improving, having spoken to a counsellor at the Ministry of Education on Thursday.
The mother said she visited the Ministry of Education and spoke to a senior education officer, and showed him videos of the incident.
The family has provided iWitness News with a three- and a 40-second video of the drowning incident.
In the three-second video, a girl appears to be struggling and splashing around in the pool, while several people appear to be relatively close to her.
Toward the end of the video, it appears as if someone was shouting, but it does not seem to be the girl who was splashing around.
In the longer video, the same girl is seen in the pool then another girl emerges from under the water, and a third goes to meet them and appears to help the one who had been splashing onto the other girl’s shoulders.
At this point, some seemingly animated female voices are heard shouting and laughing, while another female voice says, “And alyo dey dey laughing.”
The girl who had been splashing around continues to hold on to the shoulders of the girl who emerged from under the water and appears to be taking deep breaths as the animated voices continue to comment.
The student’s mother told iWitness News that she and the student visited the Ministry of Education after the GHS principal suggested in a meeting that they do so.
She said they spoke to a senior education officer and showed him the videos.
“… he agreed that what he’s seen is that, yes, she was struggling, and she was at a point where she could have drowned.”
He said the officer offered the student the option of speaking to the counsellor at her school or one at the ministry and she chose the ministry’s counsellor.
“I would say that she’s in a better place, but I don’t think she has gotten over the whole situation,” the mother told iWitness News.
“… the response we got from the principal at all; there was no empathy,” the mother said and accused the principal of being rude.
“We just wanted a listening ear, and we just wanted to know where were these lifeguards,” the mother said, adding that she had never had to visit the school because of a complaint about her daughter.
“This is the first time I had to go to High School — to look into this situation. And it wasn’t nice at all…” the mother said, adding that the principal has not called the child to discuss what had happened.
“… as a parent, I’m not going to sit down and let my daughter be going through this. … I am going to take it up with the Ministry of Education. That’s where she wants us to go. And if she wants us to have a forum there, then we would. And I want that as well.”
On Monday, the student’s sister, citing the student’s account, told iWitness News that four adults — two teachers and two parents — were present at the pool when the incident occurred.
The sister said the student cannot swim but was in the pool with her friends.
“… a little incident happened where her friend … threw her off of her back, and she ended up in the deep end of the pool. …
“…she said that she kept going under, coming up, going under. She was drowning based on what she said. She said at one point she was just going to give up and just sink because persons were around screaming to [a teacher] ‘Go and save her!’ and [the teacher] just stood there and smiled. [The teacher] did not attempt to help her….
“… when my sister came up from Bequia, she did not even want to bathe her skin. She said that she was terrified of going under the water. She did not want to feel any water on her skin.”
The student’s sister said she decided to contact the media because of the response that the principal gave her mother when she telephoned the principal the night after the school trip.
“The principal said, and I quote, ‘Miss, I don’t have time to deal with this right now, I have my son to deal with.’
“So, my mommy shouted — I’m not going to lie to you about the situation. My mom got really passionate, and my mommy was like, ‘Miss, you’re trying to tell me that you do not even have five minutes to hear about a situation where my child could have died today?’”
The student’s sister told iWitness News that the principal told her mother, “Miss, I cannot deal with this right now. Please call me back.”
“So, my mommy was telling her, ‘Miss, so you’re telling me you cannot take five minutes to care about a situation where my child is traumatised? She doesn’t even want to go and bathe her skin.’
“And the principal kept saying, ‘Miss, I have my son to deal with. I cannot deal with this. Call me back in five minutes.’”
The sister told iWitness News that she overheard the conversation and advised her mother to end the call.
“I was like, ‘Mommy, we have the videos. We will call the newspaper. We’ll post the videos. We’ll do whatever we have to do in order for this to get some sort of noticing.’
“That is when Miss DeRoche said, ‘Miss, I will call you back. Give me five minutes. I will call you back. I will call you back.’”
The student’s sister told iWitness News that they had withheld the cell phone number that they used to call the principal because the number was the mother’s work number.
The sister said that the pool is eight feet at the deepest end and her sister is 5 feet 3 inches tall. It is not clear how deep the water was where the incident occurred.
“She said she couldn’t feel the bottom. She was just continuously going under, going under.”
The sister said she had asked the student whether she felt that it was a situation where she had panicked after being thrown off her friend’s back.
“She said she did say that she was panicking, but she said she was panicking because she kept swallowing the water and she kept going under. She said she was trying to reach to reach to the top and every time she tried reaching to the top, it’s just like she was going back under.
“Because she said that the young lady as well [was also] going under, coming up and going on, coming up as well,” the sister said, referring to the other student on whose back the younger sister had been riding.
This is negligence from the teachers and parents. Why were the students in the pool and not being supervised properly? Why were they allowed to even go to the deep end of the pool? And why weren’t there at least 1 adult in the water with them?
Based on what is reported in the article and the video clipping, it appears to me that this could have easily turned out to be a tragedy which would have defeated the very purpose of the Retreat, that is to calm the girls and provide them with some fun activity to relax them before they write their CSEC exams.
Can you imagine how this would have affected all present at the
trip, and distract and hamper them from their exam preparations, not to talk about how traumatised her family would have been. I am happy the child is safe and well, and is getting the counselling after such an experience.
Lesson to be learnt: Safety and Security during all school activity must be deliberately planned for and not left to chance. Several persons from the Staff and PTA should be assigned as watchers during any school trip both on land and in water. This incident should be taken as a serious eye opener that things can happen on trips. It has happened in the past on both school trips and church picnics that young people have lost their lives tragically.
The Designated watchers should take turns at keeping an eye out for any dangers, from start to end of trip until students have been safely taken back to designated drop off points after the trip. I noted from the article that the girl was ‘riding’ on the back of another girl who most likely could swim, children will always play and enjoy, and even so swimmers can become distracted in the water, loose their footing or become ill ect, anything is possible.
Why people not learning, in my opinion these people in authority from head to toe in this village in hell do not care about you., so why complain ? who cares? tek wa yo get and shut yo mouth.