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THE EDITOR, Sir:
Too frequently I am hearing of unruly students in schools, stabbing and sexually related incidents and altercations with students and teachers. I think the relevant authorities should take drastic action regarding these unruly teens whose only aim is to create problems when they leave their homes.
I applaud the Government for the step it has taken to rid tints and lewd music from the public transportation. Some students were conducting themselves disgracefully on those buses, sometimes in front of adults.
Gone are the days when children, who were misbehaving on or off the streets, would refrain from doing what they were doing when an adult approached. Now they are even misbehaving in front of their teachers in and outside the classroom.
Some of these bad behaviours I think, stem from a lack of parental guidance, as children are growing up without any standards or boundaries, especially in the home. Also, children are also becoming parents and producing and raising children when they themselves need guidance.
I think the Government should think seriously about deploying soldiers at some of the so-called trouble schools in Jamaica if it's even for six months. My reason why I think this is a main solution is that I don't think teachers should fight with students. I think the law should deal with them.
Parents should take certain responsibility for their children and especially know how they attire themselves before they leave their homes. I have seen children on the street wearing earrings, their pants are not fixed properly on their waist, their faces are bleached out, hand towels hanging from their pockets and they talk dirty sexual words in front of anyone.
I would like to see these kinds of behaviour reduced and one way of doing this is for the Government to get members of the society involved. This by giving each student a badge with their names and schools and a number so anytime they are caught misbehaving, members of the public can take that information from the name tag and report them to their schools. If they are caught not wearing these names tags, there should be a penalty.
This could be a long-term solution but for now I think the main way to get some discipline instilled, is to deploy soldiers in some of these schools to carry out disciplinary measures. Soldiers, I think, are the right 'tools' to use to bring back some stability in schools. Soldiers are multiskilled and trained to deal with certain situations.
I would like Education Minister Andrew Holiness to think about this solution I have put forward. I think it is a great way to combat this 'disease' of inappropriate behaviour in schools. Too much criminal elements are demoralising our island already and to nip it in the bud, we have to start with the younger generation.
I am etc.,
Mark Bell
mark.bellphoto@hotmail.com
