Don’t separate school violence from societal violence, says JTA president
Published:Thursday | August 22, 2024 | 12:10 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President Dr Mark Smith believes addressing proper parenting in the home is key to stopping school violence, which he says must not be handled separately from violence at the societal level.
Speaking with The Gleaner during Wednesday JTA’s 60th annual conference at the Ocean Coral Spring Hotel in Trelawny, Smith said a national campaign must be created to revise Jamaicans’ cultural values that normalise violence.
“We cannot disaggregate what we see happening in our schools from what is happening in our society because the children are reflecting the type of aggression that they see displayed to them in many of their communities. I think it really requires a ‘macro look’ at this problem of violence in our society, not just violence in school,” said Smith.
“Oftentimes, we focus on trying to solve the problem only in the schools, and that is really a piecemeal approach. What can be done in the medium to short term is to look at education, not only as teaching children math and English, but also teaching children the strong values that are so important in order to put our society on a path and trajectory towards sustainability,” added Smith.
Parents’ Place
The JTA president referenced the Parents’ Place Initiative, which was launched in 2011 to show parents alternative ways to discipline their children, as one of several potential methods to restrict violence.
“I know that the Ministry of Education has tried various programmes, but we must have the type of urgency and the will to ensure that we follow through with these programmes. The Parents’ Place Initiative is one approach, and there are so many more that are needed,” said Smith. “We must not, at any point, feel frustrated or overwhelmed by the notion that the problem cannot be solved. We must do everything to pull ourselves back from the abyss.”
Smith’s comments followed education minister Fayval Williams’ address to the JTA conference,in which she acknowledged that school violence continues to plague the education sector despite the safety and security policy that has been implemented for schools.
“There have been too many instances of maladaptive behaviour, and when ugly incidents occur, they loom large in the public’s consciousness and overshadow all the efforts of our principals, our teachers, [and] our parents. We have to redouble our efforts and recommit to tackling this problem using a multiplicity of strategies,” said Williams.
School-based violence, including violent incidents committed by students or against students, has been a recurring problem for the Ministry of Education in recent years, with several such incidents turning fatal.
In May this year, Prime Minister Andrew Holness called for a reassessment of schools’ security risk following a series of violent incidents in educational institutions, including the fatal May 13 stabbing of Akeilia White, a student of the Catholic College of Mandeville, by one of her schoolmates.