A PAPHOS community yesterday stood divided over the alleged sexual harassment of a 14-year-old girl. Apart from the initial tragedy, the incident also brought to light deep racial divisions in the school.
The situation was further inflamed yesterday when the school’s acting principal hinted that if the allegations were true, the girl in question brought the assault upon herself.
The high school at Emba was catapulted into the limelight on Thursday when, according to reports, the girl and a couple of female friends were in the school yard and were approached by a group of boys.
After some teasing with sexual innuendo, it would seem that at least one of the boys allegedly started groping the 14-year-old.
One of the British girls who tried to protect the 14-year-old then called her parents, who sped to the school to find out what happened. Unsatisfied with the explanation and attitude of the staff, the mother of the girl who made the call then sought out one of the boys she believed was involved. Reports said the enraged woman assaulted and began battering and scratching the boy.
The boy was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, having suffered blows and abrasions to the neck.
Both families have gone to the police with their side of the story. The father says he will be suing the girl’s mother for assault and battery. The Ministry of Education is also investigating the matter.
Initial uncorroborated media reports compounded the confusion by saying that the British girls were accosted in the cloakroom, stripped of their clothes and almost raped. By yesterday, however, that version of the story had been toned down considerably.
The school itself has rushed to play down the affair and it says has been blown out of all proportion by the British girl who made the call and her mother.
“It’s all lies…there was no sexual assault, no rape, nothing,” said acting headmaster Andreas Agathocleous.
“The girl’s parents have exaggerated things to justify their action in beating up the boy.”
Agathocleous, who conducted an informal inquiry, put the incident down to “the usual teasing between kids that goes on all the time.”
He went on to suggest that the British girl and her friends may have gone too far in their erotic playacting, thereby provoking the boys into action.
Agathocleous went on to blast the behaviour of the girl’s parents: “They were swearing, using the f…word, and they ripped the poor little boy’s shirt.”
As TV networks swooped onto the Emba school, fellow students were asked for their opinion. One of the Cypriot girls interviewed appeared to voice the general consensus, which was that the British girl and her “gang” were not exactly role models:
“They hardly ever attend classes, loiter all day along in the playground, smoking, talking on their cell phones, flirting…”
Another student said: “I heard that she started unbuttoning her shirt, which made the boys crazy and they did what they did…”
Sources at the school said that in fact the assaulted boy was not at fault: he may have been an onlooker while the sleazy scenes were unfolding, but he did not instigate. It would seem the true culprits have managed to escape undetected.
Others claim the British girl was being picked on for weeks by a group of Cypriot boys. Sources wishing to remain anonymous told the Cyprus Mail that the girl had trouble adjusting to a Greek school and was being singled out.
“There’s an unspoken attitude that the girl ‘was asking for it.’ Sadly, the school administration seems to have adopted this mentality. The fact she is a foreigner may have played a part.”
Agathocleous yesterday dismissed any notion of racist behavior at the school:
“We have around 50 British students here, and most of them have blended in just fine. Like I said, this is a storm in a teacup.”
But the 14-year-old’s mother yesterday told the Mail that nothing could be further from the truth.
“What happened to my daughter is happening every day to many British girls. We’ve been complaining for weeks about this and no one is listening.”
“My daughter has been traumatised…but the fact no one believes her is worse.”
She said she held the school responsible, and was considering suing. She had not yet decided whether to transfer her daughter to another school.
“The problem won’t go away if we move. We want to fight this so it doesn’t happen again.”
In the meantime the Mail has learned that the Emba school has had more than its fair share of juvenile delinquency. Just this week, a female teacher was reportedly sexually harassed by a male pupil. The case is being investigated separately by the police and the Education Ministry.
Minister at a loss
EDUCATION Minister Pefkios Georgiades yesterday looked shell-shocked as journalists clamoured for a comment.
“I can’t tell you anything right now. We condemn all such phenomena, be it sexual harassment, delinquency, or parents taking the law into their own hands.
“But we cannot take isolated events and blow them out of proportion. It makes things worse, because it can lead to copycat events.
“Troublemakers at schools are only a very small minority. I firmly believe that, on the whole, this generation of youths is a good breed.”
Yet for all of Georgiades’ assurances, the Education Ministry and teachers have been visibly unable to tackle the spate of violence and misconduct at schools across the island in recent years.
Recently a student at a Nicosia school attacked the deputy head who had tried to stop him throwing drawing pins at a teacher. The boy, who did not take kindly to the admonitions, waited until recess and jumped the school official as he was getting into his car.
Meanwhile a band of other students gathered around to prod their schoolmate, chanting: “Go on, beat him up.”
Elsewhere, it has been reported that wayward students have been invading school yards to do tricks on their motorcycles.
