School-safety programme brings well-needed change
Published:Monday | March 28, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Jermaine Francis, Gleaner Writer
LIONEL TOWN, Clarendon:
ADMINISTRATORS AT the Bustamante High School in Lionel Town and the Kemps Hill High School in Race Course say they have been putting the resources that have been deployed to their institutions under the Safe Schools Programme to good use.
Lebert Wright, principal of Kemps Hill High School, and Beatrice Lambert, vice-principal of Bustamante High School, said in recent times their schools have not experienced any major incidents.
Wright said the Safe Schools Programme has helped greatly in reducing violence, but his school has gone further to draft its own action plan to alleviate the problem at that institution and has implemented surveillance cameras at certain points on the compound. These cameras, he added, were financed by the school and were not provided under the programme.
"We try to be ahead of the game by implementing strategies to prevent any flare-up or serious cases of violence in the school. As such, staff is heavily involved in the monitoring of students at strategic places on compound at strategic times," Wright said.
The Safe Schools Programme was designed to stem violence in selected institutions of learning. More than 80 schools are participating in the programme. Institutions are required to plan and implement school-specific safety measures to achieve violence prevention and reduction targets.
Security personnel
Bustamante High, which has been provided with a school resource officer (SRO), a dean of discipline and safety and security personnel at the school, has been able to measure its successes as well as the limitations.
"There has been a significant decrease in certain cases, but the fights are now happening off the school grounds. They are taking it outside because they know an officer is here," said James Powell, SRO at Bustamante High School.
Wright and Lambert said their schools were provided with metal detectors under the Safe Schools Programme and these they put to use by checking students on a regular basis.
Wright said the use of these metal detectors have helped significantly to prevent students from taking any form of offensive weapon to school as they fear getting caught and being punished.
Oneil Mantack, safety and security officer at Bustamante High School, said the school has a committee that meets periodically to look at these issues and find solutions to help in the reduction of fights and general indiscipline on the school compound.
At the same time, Michael Jackson, dean of discipline at Kemps Hill School, said it is a challenge for the school to put these strategies in place and ensure that they are successful.