Lascelve Graham | School alumni critical to instil discipline

Last week, I witnessed a very disturbing video on social media, where two boys from Denham Town High assaulted a schoolmate in a most vicious manner. Just before that, there was the tragic story of another school stabbing which resulted in the death of one student and the imprisonment of another. Then there are the numerous other incidents showing fist fights and all-out brawls between students and students; students and teachers, students and security, and any other permutation of the three that you can think of. Even more worrying is that a lot of these incidents now involve our young girls who are showing that they can be just as violent as the boys.

Recently, Trelawny Lay Magistrates Association President Kenneth Grant called for urgent action to tackle the issue, proposing that justices of the peace (JPs) should align themselves with educational institutions and help to mentor and guide the students on matters such as discipline, anger management and conflict resolution.

As I contemplated Mr Grant’s words, a telling voice note from a parent at Jamaica College (JC) also ended up on my phone. This time, the parent was bemoaning the fact that boys at the school were “hungry, thirsty and undernourished” as they were not getting the usual financial support that they could rely on from their old boys. I also recalled seeing a video of a badly leaking roof on the sixth form block at JC. Most of us would remember the very public falling-out between the Old Boys Association and the school administration over the Ruel Reid affair. Old boys wanted Reid fired but the school and the government ended up agreeing to a $23m settlement. The old boys were evicted from the campus, leading to many of them walking away in silent protest. The end result seems to be that much of the usual money that the very wealthy school could rely on to cover sports, welfare, academic support, and other assistance, has left.

CRITICAL SUPPORT

The situation at JC, much like the one at Denham Town and so many other high schools, is a very good example of how critical past student support is to our high schools. I believe that school alumni can be a major part of the solution to help bridge some of the gaps in our school system, not just in terms of money primarily for winning at sports, like at JC and a number of other schools, but also in terms of helping to instil discipline and reduce violence in schools like Denham Town.

So while I agree with Kenneth Grant that JPs should be brought in to help out the schools, I think there is a much lower hanging fruit in the form of past students, alumni. And I’m not just talking about the men. I think that this situation is a wake-up call for our ladies to get more involved in their alma mater as our girls also need strong female role models. As for the men, they should stop overemphasising winning at sports as the main avenue to contribute to their school, and focus more on helping to instil good values in the young men through mentorship, guidance and using sports and the arts as the powerful change agents they can be in the socialisation of our young people.

Old boys and past students must understand that our schools are not sports academies nor clubs and that focus on the academic, technical, vocational areas, as well as proper socialisation must take precedence over winning at sports in school. They must also realise that sports in school is a socialising tool to help all students, not just the sports stars who can crown the school in sporting glory.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

By focusing mainly on winning Champs, Manning and daCosta cups, a much more critical opportunity is missed to expand the great positive influence that old boys can bring to the school. Currently, our guidance counsellors to students ratio is about one to 600. This is where I believe the greater need is, as our society will benefit much more from having balanced, disciplined, well-adjusted young people, than from another Champs, Manning or daCosta Cup trophy. This is how we will begin to truly tackle our problems with crime and violence, crudity and indiscipline, under-education and poor socialisation. Our families, communities and schools are major socialising agents of society, the very heart, soul, core and foundation of our society. Our old boys (past students) can play a major role in making our schools less dysfunctional and more efficient, effective in inculcating the pro-social values, attitudes and behaviours needed.

Yes, poor, weak leadership at the political and other levels is also a problem, as our leaders lack the courage and revolutionary mindset necessary to undertake the fundamental changes required to move society in a new direction. We can’t all sit back and wait for this to happen as our leaders have shown they have other priorities to attend to. What can be more important than our children – our country’s future?

Dr Lascelve ‘Muggy’ Graham is a former captain of Jamaica’s senior football team. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com