- Rudolph Brown/Staff Photographer
Members of the choir at the New Day Primary and Junior High school, East Delwich Drive, at the edge of the Grants Pen community, perform during yesterday's staging of Boys Day 2003 on the school grounds. It was held under the theme, 'New Day boys are Special' and urged boys to say 'no' to the negative and 'yes' to the positive.
Francine Black, Staff Reporter
THE BOYS at New Day All-Age and Junior High took centre stage yesterday, under a programme introduced by the school to influence behaviour change by giving its male students their own special day.
Filled with strong positive messages, the event was staged to show the boys how good it can feel to give up negative thoughts and attitudes and celebrate the nice things about themselves.
Under the theme 'New Day boys are Special. Say no to the negative and yes to the positive', total attention was given to the boys as the girls got the day off from school.
They were grouped in grades and treated to motivational speeches that outlined the things that make them special.
According to principal Sonia Ormsby, the school, which is located in Grants Pen, St. Andrew, has been having problems with the boys, so a decision was taken to show them what the alternative to negative behaviour could be and how to rise above their circumstances.
"Some of our boys have been giving problems lately and the boys seemed to be left behind. They seem to be slow starters and they always seem to be behind the girls and the opportunity for them to get mixedup seems very easy in this community," said Ms. Ormsby.
"So we figure that if we provide them with a challenge, show them some alternative, make them know that we specially care about them, then we would probably motivate some of them to do what is right," she said.
One boy to whom The Gleaner spoke said he actually felt good about being involved in the activities and liked being taught values and positive messages.
"Today is a good day, it helped us to learn about values. Not because we come from the ghetto, we have to stay in the ghetto. They are teaching us to be positive, not negative," said Rhajhel Brown a grade six student at the school.
One parent also lauded the activity despite the fact that he has a daughter. He said such programmes were important to counteract the marginalisation of men and boys in Jamaica.
The day's activities kicked off with a inspirational devotion hosted by a group called the Open Air Campaigners. There were also motivational speakers, presentations from police officers dubbed 'The police is our friend' and from a nurse on personal hygiene, music, and a concert which culminated the day.
Of the 606 boys enrolled at New Day, 400 attended.
Organiser Arthur Edwards expressed concern about the absenteeism of boys in the age group seven to nine which, he said, was a critical age group.
Principal Ormbsy said what happened yesterday was "a start" and said they hoped to move into the community to promote similar messages.
