‘Our boys can’

Nadine Gayle-Little, principal of Beulah All-Age School in New Longville, Clarendon, is confident that early social intervention can help to reduce crime in Jamaica.

Referencing the murder of Clarendon teacher Nattalie Dawkins, she said, “Those boys (charged with the Dawkins’ murder) would have sat in front of a teacher at some point. I wouldn’t want to know that any of our boys get involved in anything like that.”

Speaking on the need to start the social intervention programme, Gayle-Little told The Gleaner, “We have to help our boys to shape their reality and bring about change. In the home environment, the kind of guidance we would want to see is not there, not in the way we would want it. There are a lot of factors that came into the thinking process of how we can guide our boys.

“We want boys who are confident and have a sense of direction and purpose, and who can stand as role models. We need somebody just to do something to ensure we have a set of boys that will become men of value in nation-building,” Gayle-Little said at the launch of the school’s mentorship programme, ‘Our Boys Can’, on Thursday.

She said the initiative, started in June, has received positive feedback, adding that the mentors are enthused to join the venture.

“They (the mentors) want a medium via which they can influence someone, and they have come on board because they want to give back ... they want to contribute,” she explained.

START OF NEW ERA

Grade-three teacher and programme coordinator Michael Huggan told The Gleaner that the school has a mandate to nurture boys into productive citizens. He said the programme was the start of a new era of progress.

“Some of these boys lack a male figure in the home and community, so we hope to provide them with that opportunity to connect with a male that will help them to understand what is to be a man,” he added.

The programme currently has 17 boys being mentored by 17 men. The first cohort of the programme will seek to facilitate 30 boys. Huggan said mentors where chosen from the community from various social spheres.

“We have doctors, entrepreneurs, carpenters ... everyone. It’s not the position you have in life; it’s your standing and what you represent,” said Huggan.

Keynote speaker Robert Nesta Morgan, state minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, and member of parliament for Clarendon North Central, lauded the mentors. He said it is crucial for youngsters to see people within their own communities to emulate.

Morgan, who used the opportunity to encourage parents to have their children vaccinated against COVID-19, added that the notion of gender roles contribute to many ills in society. “We’re teaching our girls discipline and putting our sons in the pasture to grow like animals, because when your daughter is in your house and you tell her spread the bed, study your book, you’re teaching her discipline. But you send the boy on the road ... who is growing him? He learns from a young age that he doesn’t have a home and has to fight to survive,” the minister said.

One parent, Lorraine Henriques, said the programme is a good initiative. “I really appreciate it and I think it’s good for the boys. For them to have a male role model in their life that they can look up to, I think it’s a really good thing,” she said.

Henriques credited the school for boosting her son’s morale. “He’s a shy person and since he’s been coming here, I can see where his confidence is building,”she said.

Olinda Taylor-Treasure’s eight-year-old son is also a part of the programme. “Last year when the COVID came, he was struggling with online classes and had low self- esteem, but the programme is starting to build back his confidence. He was an excellent student before, so I think going out and meeting his mentor will get him to start talking to other persons again,” she said.

The programme is being sponsored by an overseas-based group – Bible Believing Brothers. Gayle-Little said the school is open to additional sponsors.

olivia.brown@gleanerjm.com