Latoya Grindley, Features Writer

Ocho Rios High School teachers conduct a sit-in on Monday, February 18, to protest against an attack on a teacher by a student and guardian. - Roger Robinson/Freelance Photographer

School is out for the summer holidays, providing respite from the rigours of the classroom, which has become a virtual battleground with violent clashes between students, teachers and parents.

Over an eight-month period between September 2007 and May 2008, there were some 60 reported cases of physical attacks in schools across Jamaica.

When the new school year begins in September, the Ministry of Education is hoping that the implementation of new security measures will curb the incidence of violence. Top of the list is the distribution of metal detectors in 100 schools islandwide.

"A critical-incident management plan is part of the multi-pronged approach," Alton Davis, manager of public education at the ministry, told The Gleaner.

Violence spreading

Mentorship programmes and the citizenship education programme are among the initiatives to tackle violence in schools, he said. Also, communities are being engaged to forge partnerships to deal with the sources of antisocial behaviour in schools.

Misconduct has spread like wildfire across the country, spanning primary- and secondary-level institutions, says Patrick Smith, senior secretary for member service at the Jamaica Teachers' Association.

Smith revealed that the increasing trend of aggression at primary schools was also alarming.

Clashes among peers sometimes occurred because students resided in feuding communities, he said. When teachers got involved, "they (teachers) invited attacks unawares, and react by hitting or fighting the student".

Teacher respect now history

One schoolteacher who requested anonymity says student misconduct has been the worst she has seen in 15 years in the profession. According to her, the respect that students had for teachers is now history.

"It is a different set of children we have teaching now. I don't even know if I can refer to them as children since some of them don't act like children anymore. They want to say and do what they please.

"... There are good students, but it's very hard to come to terms with the delinquent and aggressive behaviour of others."

Community influence

The senior teacher believes that a lack of parental guidance is the main contributor to student misbehaviour.

"Lack of parental guidance is a common problem, as well as community influence. It is a situation now where the students are quick to react negatively and aggressively to their educators when they are being reprimanded and these are some of the attitudes that are being mirrored, coming out of what they see around them, perhaps in their homes and communities."

A dean of discipline at an all-boys high school, the teacher says most incidents of student attacks are dealt with internally. If necessary, external intervention will take place.

However, Education Minister Andrew Holness has consistently urged school administrators to treat all violence as police matters.

One of the most recent cases of school violence took place in May at Oracabessa High School in St Mary, where the principal was attacked by a student.

In February, teachers at Ocho Rios High suspended classes for about two days in protest, claiming that verbal and physical attacks by students were becoming unbearable.

latoya.grindley@gleanerjm.com

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