Bullying at Dowen? Waiting for the truth

The tragic news of the death of 12-year-old Sylvester Oromoni of Dowen College Lagos has brought the issue of bullying in schools at all levels to the fore once more. There are conflicting narratives about the root cause of young Sylvester’s death.

First is the claim by his family that the 12- year-old boy, before his passage, stated that some of his peers in school tried to initiate him into a cult group, forced him to drink some strange liquid which he resisted. And he was beaten up, which led to his death at a Warri hospital. Before he passed, the cousin alleged that he mentioned five names of those involved.

There is a counter-narrative from the school authorities. They claimed that late Sylvester sustained injury from playing football with colleagues. He was given first aid, but the situation deteriorated as young Sylvester complained of hip pain the next day and was attended to by the school doctor. The school invited the parents to pick him up for proper medical attention when there was no improvement.

The two versions of the same story above are far apart and conflicting. The critical issue now is whose version Nigerians should believe and the implication for society? The fact remains that we may not know the truth of what happened to Sylvester until the investigation into the matter is concluded. As traumatic and emotive as the story is, it is suggested that everyone should desist from jumping to hasty conclusions until we get the facts laid out by the investigators.

The families of Sylvester and the school management must allow for a thorough investigation of the issue. I will implore the investigators to look beyond the specifics of what led to Sylvester’s demise and focus on broader issues of a “culture of bullying” and the structures of bullying, including clandestine groups in our schools. They should also look at the broader scope of these bullying cultures across the schools within the local area to establish a “pattern of bullying behaviours” that threatens the fabric of society.

Our society deserves to know the truth about this issue. Nothing but the truth can assure all that the safety of young people is the minimum our country can guarantee our young people and their parents. Truth in the context is costly. The dynamic nature of the case may becloud people’s objectivity and make them pander to sensationalism
and media trial.

Social media is awash with claims and counterclaims of evidence to justify one version of the story or the other.
People may easily condone seductive rumours, half-truths, wild allegations, or outright falsehood sold to them through social media, which may persuade the court of public opinion towards accepting the bullying narrative.

If that narrative turns out untrue, it becomes difficult to undo the damage that it may have caused to society. The dilemma is that if we dismiss the bullying narrative because we want to preserve the reputation of our institution at the expense of endangering the lives of others who may be victims tomorrow, posterity will not be kind to us.

Whatever the case may be, the inconvenient truth is that the state owes us the duty of going to any length to establish the truth of this matter promptly, logically, and credibly. That is the only thing that can assuage the fears of all citizens, parents, students, teachers, and school authorities on this matter.

Even if bullying is not directly linked to the death of Sylvester, it is endemic in our schools. There is a statistical increase in cases of bullying and physical intimidation in our educational institutions. No one knows whether the trend reflects the rise of violent culture in the wider society. But it does seem that the attraction of the profit motive is swamping the responsibility of private school administrators to protect the young ones entrusted to their care.

It is time for a rigorous review of the administration and welfare aspects of the many private schools in the state. An industry with such robust patronage requires a strict regime of regulation and oversight. That is the best safeguard against tragedies such as the one that just befell young citizen Sylvester.

In line with William Golding’s Lord of The Flies, young people have a proclivity to run wild and hurt each other deeply when adults have not established rules and regulations that guide relationships between and among young people. Young people with a Jack-like disposition may create mayhem within a school environment and institute a reign of terror and pain on others without any compulsion.