Editorial | Student violence

The disturbing surge in violence among the nation’s students is a looming issue in search of urgent solution, if we intend to return a sense of safety and calm to the school environment.

Do these reports of brawls, stabbings, fights and, in rare cases, shootings, reflect a worsening situation, or is it just that with social media these incidents are more widely disseminated than in the past? As the rhetoric around these incidents becomes more heated, one can see how they could impact scholastic performance, damage reputations, fracture relationships and throw the education system into a tailspin.

While students fight, let’s not forget that teachers, too, have also been on the receiving end of this violence which is sharply threatening to overwhelm the entire society.

It is not as if the Ministry of Education does not recognise the problem. Education Minister Fayval Williams has addressed the matter publicly multiple times, while calling for a participatory approach to curb violent behaviours in schools. Additionally, the ministry has invited support for campaigns such as ‘End the violence’.

It is not as if the private sector does not recognise the problem. Initiatives such as Peace and Love in Schools (PALS) were designed to encourage students to settle their differences amicably and behave civilly, one to another.

There was a time when the principal of a school was the de facto guidance counsellor, dean of discipline and resource officer, all rolled into one, for it did not take much to enforce school rules. There were no cameras and security guards on school compounds.

GUIDANCE COUNSELLORS

Today, when school violence is spreading around the world, there are nearly 2,000 guidance counsellors employed in Jamaican schools, there are some 200 deans of discipline in the system, and the police have been transformed into school resource officers.

But none of that appears to be enough. Hopefully, the recent memorandum of understanding between Jamaica and the United Kingdom to formalise a violence prevention partnership will be effective.

Of course, one glaring difference is that nowadays students are more exposed to violence, witnessed in the home, on the streets and at every place where people are gathered. They get used to seeing gory images in the media, it is as if they are now immune to their effect.

Julian Robinson, the opposition spokesman on finance, outlined his own thinking on this troubling situation, which he referred to as an “alarming deterioration of societal values and norms”, during his contribution to the recent Budget Debate. He extolled the virtues of character education, which is defined as education involving teaching children essential human values such as honesty, kindness, generosity, courage, freedom, equality and respect. In other words, the same values which were pounded into the consciousness of children long ago, for, back then, it was thought that these qualities were necessary to create a wholesome individual.

There seems to be no guaranteed step-by-step prescription which will improve school safety and reduce violence among students. Each school has its unique mix of staff, students, parents and culture. So, perhaps a combination of efforts by all stakeholders is the ideal solution.