“Don’t Over-politicize Our Students” -Cllr. Brumskine Sends Caveat; Condemns Police Brutality

MONROVIA – Acclaimed Liberian lawyer, politician and philanthropist, Cllr. Charlyne M. Brumskine, has strongly condemned allegations of brutality meted against peacefully protesting students of the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS) by the Liberia National Police (LNP). In the same token she has frowned on what she called the over-politicization of students and children by those who are supposed to be in the frontline of protests but elect to have these students always marching in their behalf.

Expressing her position on the recent acts of brutality that MCSS suffered last Wednesday at the hands of the police when they turned out to protest against the unfavorable teaching environment of their school system, Cllr. Brumskine said while she unequivocally condemns any acts of violence against peaceful protesters, especially students and children, it makes no sense for the students to always be placed in the frontline of protests.

“I want to have a discussion with you about what happened Tuesday with our students who were peacefully protesting. There were allegations of police brutality against them by the Liberia National Police (LNP). My position is unequivocal that no acts of violence should ever be displayed against peaceful protestors. Every citizen has a right to assemble and to peacefully protest, an inalienable and undeniable right given to us by our constitution.

“But my question is, why are our children or students out on the streets protesting? I understand that there is a go-slow by the teachers. I read that the Ministry of Education issued a statement that the MCSS teachers had been paid, that there was a budget provided to MCSS and a substantive amount of that budget was for salaries. But then I read that the students were protesting because of the unfavorable, unconducive work environment for their teachers.

“My question to you is, have we not over-politicized our students and our children in this country? Is it the responsibility of students to be out marching on behalf of their teachers because the teachers have an unfavorable work environment? I understand that students are the end consumers of education, so the students want to make sure their teachers are taken care of. But is it our children’s responsibility to protest? I would love to hear your responses on this.

“I believe that we have over-politicized young people in this country. I believe that in Liberia we are so hyper-political, and everything ultimately becomes a political issue. And sometimes those who are supposed to be on the frontlines refuse to be on the frontlines and we put our children. Why was any young man or any young woman subject to brutality? I saw some of the videos. No child should have been a victim of violence of any attack. Our police should exercise restraint. That’s my position. When it comes to children, we have a heightened level of restraint that we need to exercise towards our students.

“But that’s not the issue we are talking about here. Why were our students on the streets protesting a go-slow? It is not right. We forget that the most important issue is the child’s human right to be free of violence. The child’s human right is to be in a classroom and to receive an education. Why are our Liberian children always on the front protesting? We need to rethink this as a society and realize that this hyper-politicization that we have in this country doesn’t augur well. I will go to schools to talk to young people, and before I can talk, there is a battle cry going out. So, I ask them, do you know what amandla awetu is? Why is everything so politicized, so revolutionized?

“I am speaking as a parent, I am speaking as an aunty, I am speaking as an older woman who really cares about the wellbeing of our students. Can we address those issues about our young people before we even get to the political issues?” Cllr. Brumskine wondered.