Page 74 - Social Norms Survey

Verbal violence is very much a part of the fighting scenario:

• If two girls fight, a number of the comments suggest the importance of hair to a
girl’s attractiveness. This is what is heard: “Draw out ar hair!” “Mi a draw out ar dry

hed!” “Bum a chair inna ar head, mash up ar head!” “Beat d gal, mash ar up! Beat
ar!” “Mi a guh fi mi scissors and stab ar up!”

• If two boys fight, this comes from the spectators: “Ole im dung!” “Tump him ina him
face!” “Kill im! Strangle him!” “Stab him!” “Tek out the scorpion tail and whap him

wid it!”
• If girl and boy fight: “Nyam ar!” “Nyam aff ar earz!”

In all the groups there were several students who answered positively to the question:

“Do you see boys or men being rough with girls?” One male Grade 7 student offered this
description: “Rough dem up, Sir, and jerk dem and choke dem.” When asked why they

did this, several explanations were offered by the girls, one clearly referring to the norm
of male superiority and their use of power to enforce it: “Dem sey you haffi abide by wey

dem sey or dem a go force you fi dey wid dem.” Her co-student’s response was that
some of the girls were “soft,” implying that they allowed this to happen. In another school

they suggested that the girls took a passive approach: “Because dem probably have a
problem” and “A just so dem stay.”

From the boys one explanation was that an aggressor said that the girl was unfaithful,

“a gi dem bun.” Another group claimed that the men simply did not care; in fact one
interpreted this to mean they were really homosexuals: “Sir, becah some a e time dem a

batty man, Sir. Dem nuh love girl, Sir.”

Speaking of their reaction to male student violence all three girls’ groups gave a picture of
submission: “Dem just waa sit dung and bawl.” “Dem feel shame!” This could even affect

their attendance at school: “Miss, dem feel bad, like dem feel within dem self sey dem
caa badda. So if a school, dem caa badda come a school because dem caa badda

see da person dey.”

In the case of apparent unfaithfulness, the boys said that as the girlfriend was being
beaten, in full view of other students it would seem, she said she was sorry and the couple

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