By Kimone Witter
It was a somber mood at Ocho Rios High School in St. Ann on Thursday morning after a dispute between two Grade 10 students turned deadly on Wednesday.
Sixteen-year-old Devonie Shearer, of Tae Street, Ocho Rios, was struck on the head with a metal chair while standing in his classroom during the break period.
He later died from his injuries.
The suspect, a 17-year-old boy, is in custody.
About 15 guidance counsellors from various schools in Region 3 were at Ocho Rios High offering their services to students and staff on Thursday.
Education Minister Senator Dr. Dana Morris Dixon, as well as ministry representatives, political representatives and the police were also on hand to commiserate with and support the school family.
Dr. Morris Dixon said the incident is a tragedy that has happened too often in the country.
“It’s not going to be a one-day effort. It’s going to have to be many months of interventions, and we are prepared to do that. And whatever the school asks for, we will do it. I ask all of Jamaica to pray for our children across the country. Our children are hurting. There is anger there, and we have to work really hard to get to the bottom of it, to provide the psychosocial support to these children and to develop communities that can support these children.
“These children do not just come out of thin air. They are parts of communities and what we are seeing in the schools is what we are seeing in our communities and behaviour from our communities, and we have to stop it. And so you will hear more from myself, my fellow colleagues in the Cabinet and the Prime Minister too on this because we have to take a stand,” she declared.
Meanwhile, chairman of the institution, Reverend Richard Tucker, lamented that the school was unaware of the fight between the students, which reportedly started on Tuesday in the Ocho Rios town centre.
“If that had been reported to the school, then we would have been proactive and we would have brought the students together to find out what the situation was and we would have dealt with that. We have really not had any such violence on the school compound. Maybe our students will go in the town, they’ll have their little tussle, but that is usually dealt with. Once the school knows about it, then we would try to get ahead of it and try to de-escalate what the situation is,” he lamented.
Reverend Tucker confirmed that the dispute was over a girl.