BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - IT is a sad situation in society when we see young schoolgirls having open relationships with grown men; but it is even worse to see bus drivers engage in relationships with these girls and allow them to sit in their vehicles for lengthy periods during school hours.
I am sure that many of you have seen young girls on the streets or at a bus stop waiting for public transportation. But they are not waiting for just any bus. They are waiting for that special bus, you know, the one which they can jump in and jump out without paying a dime; the one that their lovers drive, because that is the only time they can see them.
SKNVibes PEP took to the streets and asked a number of bus drivers and high school students around St. Kitts to give their views on “Why do you think schoolgirls have intimate relationships with bus drivers?”
One man, who drives a bus marked ‘Klassy’, said he thinks most of them do it for money. He said some schoolgirls see their friends have certain things that their parents could not afford to give them, so they find a man who would.
Another bus driver named Melly said he thinks “they like the free drive and music on the bus or the ‘lil’ change they could get every now and again”.
The driver of a bus marked ‘Such Is Life’ said it is all about convenience in most situations; free ride, top-ups, a lunch now and again and an occasional $50. “Besides all that, a bus man is a man with money at hand all the time,” he added.
As I walked the streets of downtown Basseterre, I saw a man who seemed to be in his late 40s and I asked him the same question. The man claimed to get very upset when he hears of such relationships. He said, “The young girls them today are smart, they want to hold on to the little bus money and lunch money that their parents give them and get a free ride from the bus men and save their money to do something else.”
He noted that some of them would do this for weeks until the bus men end up wanting something in return, “then they get involved”.
Meanwhile, I travelled to a number of high schools and spoke to over 20 students and was surprised at some of their responses.
One fourth form boy, who was really disturbed over the issue, said, “These bus men need to look woman they age cause they making it bad for the schoolboys to get a girlfriend, because the schoolgirls saying they don’t want no schoolboy. The bus drivers need to stop it; it is wrong.”
A third form female said she thinks it happens because some schoolgirls do not have a good life or come from a good home, so they would seek older men to satisfy some of their needs and wants. And, of course, the men would ask for something in return.
“Some schoolgirls just like big man, because they want to boast and say they have this and that from their man…and a lot of them bus man mouth sweet, they know how to fool them off,” said one fourth former.
Another fourth form student, who stated that she likes the topic, said, “I think bus men need to look woman their age and leave young girls alone. They can’t get their way with older women so they turn to the young girls because they feel they can manipulate them easily…and because the young girls wont ask for much, just a top-up now and again or a little Chinese food and free bus drive.”
One young lady even went as far as to say that the more you do is the more you get. When I asked her what she meant, she said the most some girls want is Chinese food but if you give the bus man what they want you may get KFC or something more expensive.
What was even more disturbing is when she added that she could call the names of bus drivers who take schoolgirls over to Frigate Bay and ‘cane range’ to indulge in sexual acts.
When the Commissioner of Police was contacted on this issue, he said they are aware of rumours of bus drivers being involved with schoolgirls but they have never had any proof or anyone coming to them to officially report.
SKNVibes PEP also contacted officials at Gender Affairs and the Department of Child Services, who said that they have never had to deal with such cases.
Speaking with the Vice Principal of one school, he said he had heard many rumours pertaining to the issue but he has never had any proof or had to summon any parent to his office.
One teacher said she knows of a few stories and had seen some activity in terms of certain bus drivers taking lunch and money to girls at school, but when the students are asked about it they say the person is a family member.
She said, “As a teacher, there is only so much we can do. The parents also have to play their role and some parents don’t. Some of them don’t even care what their children are doing or who they are doing it with, and often times they allow their children to leave home without bus fare or lunch money and they are therefore forced to fend for themselves.”
This problem does not only exist in the Federation; it is a Caribbean problem. I recently read an article out of Jamaica, which stated that many of the bus drivers engage the schoolgirls in ‘slackness’, such as having sex on the bus.
