By Damion Mitchell, Staff Reporter
A section of the audience at the 'Men on a Mission' conference.
A STRUCTURED programme needs to be implemented in Jamaican schools in grades seven through nine to help young men better understand their transition from puberty to adulthood, and to teach them to be responsible men, the Rev. Dr. Dave Hazle, a Minister of the United Church of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, recommended yesterday.
Addressing several hundred men from across the island attending The Gleaner's Mind&Spirit conference dubbed "Men on a Mission" at the Family Church on the Rock in St. Andrew, the Rev. Dr. Hazle also pointed to the failure of some fathers in nurturing their boys. However, he said the number of fathers neglecting their responsibilities was in the minority and not vice versa as many persons believed.
According to him, his academic research also indicated that many men do not live with their children but minimally support them, with the understanding that once they provide for their children they are fulfilling their roles as fathers.
Responding to Rev. Dr. Hazle's suggestion, Ray Howell, principal of the Drews Avenue Primary School, said an even earlier intervention was needed especially for boys at risk. He suggested that such a programme should be implemented at the grade four level.
A DISCONNECT
"There seems to be a disconnect between the realisation of fatherhood and the fact that fatherhood needs presence," he said. "Boys need intentional engagement with older men who can train them and equip them to function as responsible men should."
Without this, he said, boys would continue to search for societal symbols that, although disruptive, represents masculinity.
Meanwhile, amidst thunderous applause, Carlisle John Peterson, a United States-based preacher challenged Christian-minded persons to begin an urgent campaign against homosexuality, which he said was being promoted through several forums.
"While we sit up in churches and worry about (church) offering, these people (homosexuals) have already begun their advertising campaign. They want to desensitise homosexuality," he said. "This is an outright attack! It is an assault on the image of God in man. What is needed is a moment of prayer that will catch a fire across our nation."
