National mental health plan neededPsychologist on rising schoolgirl violence...

Clinical and organisational psychologist Kelly McFarlane.

IN response to rising concerns about escalating school violence particularly among girls, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Psychologists, Kelly McFarlane, recommends the creation of a national plan to support students’ psychological well-being. Speaking with the Express on Saturday, McFarlane warned that while disciplinary action such as expulsion may have its place, it is far from a solution. “The expulsion approach is one starting point but it cannot be the only or the end point,” she said. “What we need is a national framework for school-based mental health that would help both teachers and students and government ministers manage these issues.”
According to McFarlane, such a framework should include consistent support staff, mental health partnerships, and most critically, training, not just for students, but for the teachers navigating these behavioural challenges on a daily basis.
“Training, training, training,” she emphasised. “Addressing violence requires a whole-school approach, not just punitive measures after the violence has already happened”.
She also advocated for emotional intelligence and psychological well-being to be added to the school curriculum, starting at the primary school level. “We must have mental health on the school curriculum,”


McFarlane stressed, “Just as important as teaching children English and Mathematics, we have to, especially in our environment, teach emotional intelligence.” She added that in the same way sex education and religious instructions are taught to students, emotional intelligence is also needed.
She explained that young people need to be taught not only how to understand and manage their own feelings, but also how to cope when they’re overwhelmed. “This is how you understand your own feelings and other people’s feelings. These are ways to cope,” she said, explaining that a large part of school violence was due to students lacking the appropriate coping mechanisms.


She warned that every act of violence is a cry for help. “Violence signals a deeper unmet need,” she said, adding: “If we don’t take the time to understand and address those needs, schools won’t be safe for the children, the teachers, or the parents.”
She said a national consultation must be the next step. “We have to dig deep to understand what is happening in our cultural context and fix it before it gets worse.”
Role of social media
Within the last two weeks, two violent incidents involving secondary school girls have reignited national concern over school violence and the role of social media. The first took place at South East Port of Spain Secondary School on June 3 and the second at Holy Faith Convent, Couva, on June 10, where a student was dragged outside the school compound and assaulted by girls from the nearby Couva Secondary School. According to reports, both assault had their origin on social media.
The incidents were recorded and widely shared on social media, quickly going viral and drawing hundreds of thousands of views. The videos have sparked public debate about parenting, school discipline, and the online culture where the situation escalates. In the Holy Faith Convent incident, one of the assailants went on social media after the fight justifying her actions while further taunting the victim, as well as the alleged intended target who had escaped. 
In both incidents the victims of the assault had to be hospitalised.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar also weighed in during a recent post-Cabinet news conference, where she vowed to implement stricter penalties for students involved in violent acts. She stated that such students would face expulsion and potentially criminal charges.
In a telephone interview, another clinical psychologist, Denise Jittan-Johnson, pointed out that social media was not just documenting school fights, but was also intensifying them. She warned that the online environment is amplifying aggression among teenage girls, turning ordinary disputes into public performances. 
Social hierarchy
“When they’re posting it online, it really amplifies the drama, the humiliation, and the aggression,” Jittan-Johnson said. She explained that young people are increasingly expressing their emotional distress, insecurities, and lack of healthy coping strategies through both physical fights and online bullying that were often recorded and shared for social validation before and after the violence.
Jittan-Johnson noted that among girls, in particular, the violence is often driven by social hierarchy and the need to maintain status. “Young girls’ conflict resolution is really driven by this social hierarchy,” she said. “It’s that kind of emotional one-upping, and the online posting gives it a longer life.” This, she believes, helps explain the disturbing trend of group attacks, where several girls gang up on one. “You see these group dynamics...group effort kind of bullying,” she said. “It comes from a space of trying to secure your tribe. The ‘us’ against ‘them’ type of mentality”.
But while families often come under fire for the school violence, Jittan-Johnson emphasised that home life is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. “It’s a larger socio-emotional, socio-economic kind of need,” she said, adding that unstable home environments, trauma, and a lack of role models for conflict resolution all play a part.
Also weighing in on the situation, Dr Neemal Gookool, head of the Psychiatry Association of Trinidad and Tobago, says the disturbing trend of schoolgirl violence is being amplified by the digital age—where social media platforms reward aggression with attention, shares, and status.
Speaking via telephone, Gookool said platforms like TikTok and Instagram have created a culture where teenage aggression is glorified. “Social media kind of rewards this aggressive behaviour...students want to go viral,” he explained. “You’re seeing fights not just happening, but being filmed and shared as part of this performative cycle.”
He believes that adolescent girls, in particular, are now using violence to establish dominance and climb social hierarchies within their peer groups. “It’s about securing social hierarchy,” he said. “Many girls are battling for acceptance, and fights are becoming a way to assert that status and be known.”
But while public outrage has led to calls for swift punishment—including expulsions and even criminal charges—Gookool warned against blanket responses. Instead, he urged school authorities and policymakers to assess each case carefully. “Justice doesn’t happen in a single step,” he said. “Each fight needs to be dissected and understood. What exactly led to this? What transpired before the incident? These are questions that need answers.”
(Source:  Daily Express, June 16, 2025)