THE 10-YEAR-OLD Peace and Love in Schools (PALS) programme is to be expanded and renamed Peace and Love in Society, leaving the PALS acronym intact. Badly needed to counteract violence in schools and the society in general, PALS fosters peaceful dispute resolution and has been relatively successful.
It originally targeted primary schools and a few high schools but a part of the problem has been finances to keep the programme going, and this has put a strain on its management structure.
An important step forward, in addition to widening the scope of PALS from school to society, is an amalgamation with the Kingston Restoration Company and the Dispute Resolution Foundation. This partnership will go a long way in strengthening the overall management structure and it is hoped that the private sector will increase contributions to the enlarged network.
PALS chairman Morin Seymour noted that the goal of this partnership will be to ensure that the respective technologies and resources are maximised for the benefit of the community renewal. It is also designed to promote peace and harmony towards national development goals, Mr. Seymour noted. This is commendable and must be supported. A society cannot prosper and grow where there is instability and lack of peace.
The incidence of violence in our schools has been increasing in recent months, some disputes between students ending in murder. In many cases teachers are physically abused by parents when their children are disciplined.
And the most awful example of man's inhumanity to man is the father who, discovering that his son might be a homosexual, took him to his school and encouraged his fellow students to beat him.
PALS has already trained 300 students across 30 schools in mediation skills. This nucleus must be expanded into a national crusade because if we are not successful in restoring sanity and dignity to human relationships violence will destroy our way of life. The expanded PALS programme should be given unstinting support in the national interest.
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