Mark Beckford, Staff Reporter

A feud between students of North Street neighbours St George's College and Kingston College, over a teenage female student, has now left two boys nursing stab wounds in hospital.

A male student of St George's College was the latest victim of the dispute when he was stabbed yesterday afternoon in downtown Kingston. He was admitted at the Kingston Public Hospital.

According to teachers and students of both schools, the feud started after a female student was slapped by a student of St George's College. The girl reported the incident to her boyfriend from Kingston College, who went to her assistance.

The student then proceeded to confront the offending boy, who was slapped. Since this incident, which occurred a week ago, there have been other altercations between students of the schools.

Fear

When The Gleaner visited the campus of St George's College yesterday, several teachers were seen discussing the incident. As The Gleaner team left the campus, three schoolboys asked for escort to downtown Kingston as they said they feared for their safety.

Rupert Hemmings, principal of Kingston College, said his school and St George's are making efforts to quell the disturbance which has arisen because of the fights between boys of the schools.

"Kingston College and St George's College have had very warm relations for 83 years. Things have happened where these kids unfortunately don't know how to resolve their conflicts without disputes," he said.

"I went over to St George's today (yesterday) to appeal to the youngsters and tomorrow (today) they will reciprocate. We will do everything in our power to get these kids to behave in a manner which reflects the image of the school."

Efforts to get in contact with the principal of St George's, Margaret Campbell, were unsuccessful as she was locked in a meeting when The Gleaner visited the school. Subsequent calls to her office also went without an answer.

A teacher at St George's, who requested anonymity, called on parents to police their children more effectively, as her interaction with them on a daily basis has indicated a crisis.

"Parents need to pay more attention to their boys, because they come to school and they have no respect for authority. You cannot say anything to them, you just have to try with the good ones within the class."

mark.beckford@gleanerjm.com