Adisadel college bully should not be denied education

A psychiatrist has advised that whatever punishment is planned to be given to the student of Adisadel College who bullied another should not stop him from schooling. She said if he is denied education as a result he may turn out more dangerous.

Dr Ruth Owusu-Antwi, President of the Psychiatric Association of Ghana, said this while speaking to JoyNews in an interview. She said owing to the number of available punishments that could prove corrective for the student; those should be considered. She says this will prevent him from becoming a threat to society in the future if he becomes a school dropout.

“There are several forms of punitive measures that will be meted out, but I am just sending a sign of caution that letting this young man drop out of school should not be one of our options. By all means, he should be punished, but we should not let him end up on the streets,” she stated.

According to Dr Owusu-Antwi, if “He becomes more dangerous”, he will come even “adults, other children. He gets even the opportunity to become worse off, join bad groups into substance abuse, or he may even lose his life. So, please, yes, he should be punished, but I think that the punishment should not deprive him of his academics”.

Meanwhile, the school’s decision to immediately suspend the culprit has received the support of the Ghana Education Service. The GES, in a statement, applauded the school’s decision. A statement by the Head of the Public Relations Unit of the Service, Cassandra Twum Ampofo, commended Adisadel for its swift action.

“We commend the school authorities for promptly suspending the alleged perpetrator pending further investigation,” part of the GES statement said.