Christian media group warns gov't against tinkering with school devotions

A Christian media group is urging the government to be careful in pursuing the regulation of religious activities in public schools, arising from this week's bizarre incident at Oberlin High in St Andrew. 

The school has reported that several students fainted or broke out in screams after a teacher offered prayers during a devotion on Wednesday morning, forcing the administration to dismiss classes early. 

The Education Ministry has since said it was conducting an investigation to determine protocols to guide devotions in schools. 

But the Association of Christian Communicators and Media (ACCM) says the ministry "must take into account the fact that the public school system, for the most part, was established on moral and legal foundation, grounded in the Christian faith". 

"It is on this solid foundation that  the majority of the traditional institutions of learning were built," the group said in a statement, noting that Jamaica is now contending with a series of negative events. 

It pointed to the "extraordinary high rates of crime and violence in the wider society is clearly spilling onto school compounds and the nation is becoming a dangerous place for all".

According to the group, "Jamaica has had the advantage of watching other countries dismantle the moral and Christian floorboards and observing the negative impacts on children and families".

"The ACCM firmly asserts that the role of the Church as moral and spiritual guide, Godly presence and peacekeeper must not be dismantled, diminished or dismissed. Despite our penchant for violence and disorder, Jamaicans, at the heart, are a God-fearing and peace-loving people and the Church must be at the forefront of this battle for the soul of our country", the group said.  

It added that devotions are "our cultural identity shored up by our law. Let's take pride in it, defend it, argue for it, and let other nations eventually envy us for it".

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